BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks soared on Wednesday after U.S. stocks soared to their best day in almost a year overnight on renewed hopes that the Iran war, which is in its fifth week, could soon end.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the war could end in two weeks sans a deal to re-open the Hormuz, brining a much-needed relief to markets roiled by the conflict.
Analysts said it could take six to eight weeks more for oil flows to normalize.
De-escalation hopes weakened the dollar and global bond yields fell sharply, helping gold prices rise above $4,700 an ounce.
Brent crude prices fell almost 4 percent below $100 a barrel with the easing of Middle East tensions and industry data showing U.S. crude inventories surged by 10.263 million barrels last week.
Iran said no formal peace talks were underway but signaled a wiliness to stop fighting and end the ongoing war if it gets credible guarantees that the attacks will not happen again.
Speaking during a phone call with European Council President Antonio Costa, President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated Iran's position that any resolution must include safeguards against future attacks.
China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.46 percent to 3,948.55 after the release of positive manufacturing data.
After two months of contraction, the official manufacturing PMI index rose to 50.4 in March led by strong momentum in export orders.
A separate private survey revealed that manufacturing activity expanded for a fourth straight month but at a slower pace than February.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.04 percent to 25,294.03 following signals from U.S. President Trump to end military actions in Iran.
Japanese markets rebounded strongly from March's bruising sell-off as oil prices tumbled on comments from U.S. officials pointing to possible de-escalation in the Iran conflict.
Investors also cheered the results of a central bank survey that showed business sentiment for major Japanese manufacturers improved despite higher oil prices and supply constraints.
The Nikkei average surged 5.24 percent to 53,739.68, rebounding from its worst month since 2008. The broader Topix index settled 4.95 percent higher at 3,670.90. Among the top gainers, Furukawa Electric, Sumitomo Electric and Advantest soared 11-13 percent.
Seoul stocks skyrocketed amid hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict. The Kospi average jumped 8.44 percent to 5,478.70, snapping a four-day losing streak.
Large-cap tech shares led the uptrend, with Samsung Electronics rising 13.4 percent and SK Hynix adding 10.7 percent.
Australian markets rose sharply to hit a three-week high amid broad-based gains led by gold miners. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rallied 2.24 percent to 8,671.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 2.32 percent higher at 8,885.60.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index fell 0.67 percent to 12,825.87, reversing earlier gains with Infratil and a2 Milk shares coming under heavy selling pressure.
U.S. stocks soared overnight, with all three major indexes posting their best showing of 2026, after President Trump said the U.S. could end its Iran military campaign within 2-3 weeks, claiming that Washington had already achieved its core objectives of hobbling Iran's nuclear ambitions and bringing a regime change in the country.
Asserting that Tehran no longer possessed functional defense infrastructure, Trump claimed that the U.S. 'will not have anything to do with' what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz and that other nations can reopen the key shipping lane that supplies 20 percent of the world's oil consumption.
Countries that did not help the U.S. and Israel in attacking Iran could buy oil from the U.S. or 'just take it' from Hormuz, Trump added.
'Let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it. because I would imagine whoever's controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait.'
The U.S. President will address the nation on Iran at 21:00 ET (23:00 GMT) later today.
Trump's remarks came after he told U.S. allies to 'go get your own oil' and blamed them for refusing to be more involved in its war effort.
In economic releases, a measure of U.S. consumer confidence inched up again in March, while the JOLTS report for February suggested the labor market is continuing its gradual cooling.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.8 percent, the S&P 500 spiked 2.9 percent and the Dow surged 2.5 percent after bruising losses in March.
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