BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks surged on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a tentative peace deal with Iran, helping ease investor concerns about inflationary pressures and lessening the need for interest-rate hikes.
Signing ceremony is set for Friday in Switzerland following weeks of mixed messaging from both Washington and Tehran on the trajectory of the conflict. With no official terms yet released, exact details of the deal are not clear.
The U.S. dollar hit a 10-day low and global bond yields eased, helping gold prices rally more than 2 percent to $4,313 an ounce in Asian trading ahead of a slew of central bank meetings slated for the week.
Brent crude futures slumped over 4 percent toward $83 a barrel, well off the May peak of $126.41 a barrel after Trump said the tentative deal included opening the vital Strait of Hormuz, without giving further details.
China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 1.61 percent to 4,096.47 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended half a percent higher at 24,842.67.
Shares of Knowledge Atlas Technology, the listed entity behind Chinese AI model developer Zhipu, soared 33 percent after JPMorgan reportedly maintained its overweight rating on the stock, citing the firm's model visibility and its pricing power in a fiercely contested market.
Japanese markets soared as geopolitical tensions eased, the yen weakness persisted and government bond yields tumbled before a Bank of Japan policy meeting. The central bank is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate to the highest level since 1995 at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on June 16.
The Nikkei index jumped 4.99 percent to 69,317.50, breaking above the 69,000 level for the first time in history. The broader Topix index settled 3.03 percent higher at 3,999.60.
Semiconductor and other tech stocks topped the gainers list, with Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Corp rallying 7-10 percent.
Taiyo Yuden, a materials and electronics company, surged 22.6 percent, Ibiden soared over 19 percent and Murata Manufacturing added 17.6 percent.
Seoul stocks rose sharply to end higher for a third day running on the back of falling government bond yields and plunging oil prices.
The Kospi index soared 5.20 percent to 8,545.98, with chip manufacturers leading the surge. Samsung Electronics, SK Square and SK Hynix surged 4-6 percent.
LG Electronics climbed 11.2 percent after reports that the company is developing a custom Arbitrum layer-2 blockchain network to automate and optimize the global advertising market.
Earlier in the day, the country's bourse operator triggered a circuit breaker, suspending program trading for five minutes after KOSPI 200 index futures rose 5 percent.
Australian markets hit an eight-week high, led by mining and gold stocks. Woodside Energy shares plunged 5.7 percent after the company said it is not in discussions with Exxon Mobil regarding a potential acquisition.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rallied 1.25 percent to 8,914 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 1.35 percent at 9,128.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index slipped 0.25 percent to 13,360.59, giving up earlier gains.
Heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare tumbled 3.3 percent and Meridian Energy lost 2.5 percent.
On Friday, U.S. stocks closed higher, driven by optimism for a Middle East peace deal and SpaceX's highly anticipated public debut.
After Iranian media reported alleged terms of a possible ceasefire agreement, President Trump claimed the leaked terms of the deal have 'NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,' adding that there is no such thing as dealing in good faith with them.
His remarks came after IRNA published what is described as seven main points of the deal indicating virtually no compromise from Iran on key issues.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, meanwhile, stated that an 'Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding' towards a ceasefire had 'never been closer.'
The Dow climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 gained half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.3 percent.
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