CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Wednesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by markets in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan amid strong gains in technology stocks as well as tumbling crude oil prices that eased global inflation concerns on reports of an interim deal between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Tuesday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz over the next couple days. He added that it would be freedom of movement, indicating that the traffic would be free for all international ships.
Bessent predicted that when hundreds of ships stranded in the Persian Gulf start moving, oil and energy prices would fall eventually.
Later, Qatar confirmed that mediatory efforts to secure U.S.-Iran deal are progressing well.
Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 9,150 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains is mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 30.90 points or 0.34 percent to 9,176.70, after touching a high of 9,213.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 42.90 points or 0.46 percent to 9,354.80. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Fortescue is up almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are losing almost 2 percent each.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing more than 3 percent, Zip is jumping almost 6 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent and Appen is surging almost 7 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent. National Australia bank is flat.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Newmont are up more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is edging down 0.3 percent.
In other news, shares in Neuren Pharmaceuticals are jumping more than 17 percent after it reported upbeat financial results for the second quarter and upgrading its guidance for the full-year 2026.
Shares in IperionX are surging more than 8 percent, rebounding from a recent sell-off over plans of its ultimate parent company to be redomiciled to Texas and listed directly on the Nasdaq.
Shares in Clarity Pharmaceuticals are soaring more than 12 percent after reporting encouraging interim results from its SECuRE prostate cancer trial, showing strong PSA responses and new complete responses at higher doses.
In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.6. That's up from 50.5 in June, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Also, the composite PMI improved to 53.2 from 50.4 in June.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.705 on Wednesday.
The Japanese stock market is trading sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Nikkei 225 is surging 3 percent to above the 65,850 level, with gains across most sectors led by exporters, financial and technology stocks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 65,861.00, up 1,903.47 points or 2.98 percent, after touching a high of 66,170.04 earlier. Japanese stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is soaring almost 11 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is losing almost 2 percent. Among automakers, Honda is adding almost 3 percent, while Toyota is losing almost 1 percent.
In the tech space, Advantest is surging more than 7 percent, Tokyo Electron is gaining more than 3 percent and Screen Holdings is advancing almost 5 percent.
In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is gaining more than 1 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is adding almost 2 percent and Mizuho Financial is advancing more than 2 percent.
Among the major exporters, Mitsubishi Electric is gaining almost 3 percent, Panasonic is surging almost 5 percent, Canon is edging up 0.3 percent and Sony is adding almost 1 percent.
Among other major gainers, Ibiden is skyrocketing more than 22 percent and Yamaha Motor is soaring more than 17 percent, Furukawa Electric and Sumitomo Electric Industries are jumping more than 10 percent each. Resonac Holdings and Mitsui Kinzoku are surging more than 9 percent each, while Murata Manufacturing is surging more than 8 percent. Sumco and Fujikura are advancing almost 8 percent each. Ajinomoto is rising almost 7 percent, Nippon Electric Glass is gaining more than 6 percent, Kioxia Holdings is adding almost 6 percent and Denka is up more than 5 percent.
Conversely, Daikin Industries is tumbling almost 8 percent, Yokogawa Electric is sliding almost 7 percent, NTN is slipping more than 6 percent, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is declining more than 4 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is losing almost 4 percent and Toho is slipping more than 3 percent and Mitsui & Co. is down almost 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 157 yen-range on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are surging 3.8 and 3.5 percent respectively. New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are higher by between 0.1 and 0.7 percent each. Singapore is bucking the trend and is down 0.4 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly in positive territory during Tuesday's session, extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, with the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all hitting fresh record closing highs.
The Dow rallied 907.47 points or 1.71 percent to finish at 54,085.88, while the NASDAQ soared 671.10 points or 2.59 percent to end at 26,584.99 and the S&P 500 jumped 136.02 points or 1.79 percent to close at 7,736.52.
The major European markets have all also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.9 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices plunged again on Tuesday amid rising optimism over a resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict, easing supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $4.66 or 5.80 percent at $75.68 per barrel.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
