Japan's Nikkei 225 hits record high as hopes for U.S.-Iran deal fuel broader rally in Asia stocks
Asia markets opened higher, with Nikkei at an all-time high after Wall Street hit record levels on growing expectations of a U.S.-Iran deal to end the war.
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Electronic screens display gongs at the Exchange Square Complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Japan's Nikkei 225 hit a record Thursday amid a broader rally in Asia markets, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as hopes of a U.S.-Iran deal grew.
Japan's Nikkei 225 extended early gains, rising 2.43%, led by technology and consumer cyclical stocks. Daikin Industries was the top performer, after activist investor Elliott Investment Management pushed the company to improve performance and narrow its valuation gap with peers. The Topix gained 1.33%.
Stocks have rallied this week on the possibility of a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran. The S&P 500, which fully recovered from its Iran war losses on Monday, has risen 3% this week. The Nasdaq and Dow, meanwhile, have added around 5% and more than 1%, respectively.
The Iran war is "very close to over," President Donald Trump said in a Fox Business interview that aired on Wednesday, again claiming that Tehran wants to "make a deal very badly."
A White House official told CNBC on Tuesday that a second round of negotiations between Washington and Iran is under discussion. According to the official, who asked not to be named to discuss the administration's plans, said nothing has been officially scheduled yet.
Oil prices were volatile in Thursday trade. The West Texas Intermediate gained 0.26% at $91.53 per barrel as of 10:06 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.23% at $95.15 per barrel.
South Korea's Kospi advanced 2.12% while the small-cap Kosdaq was 1.10% higher.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.25% lower. Labor data released Thursday showed that Australian employment rose 1.4% in March from a year ago, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.
Mainland China's CSI 300 index rose 0.56%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.89%.
China's economy accelerated in the first quarter, supported by robust export growth, which helped offset tepid domestic demand, even as the growth outlook was clouded by the Iran war-fueled energy shock threatening global demand.
Gross domestic product grew 5% in the three months to March, data from the National Statistics Bureau showed Thursday, accelerating from 4.5% in the prior quarter and exceeding economists' forecast for a 4.8% growth in a Reuters poll.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both traded around the flatline. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 45 points, or 0.1%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.80%, ending at 7,022.95. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.59% to 24,016.02, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 72.27 points, or 0.15%, to close at 48,463.72.
Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed at records, with the tech-heavy index posting an 11th-day win streak and the broad market benchmark notching its 10th positive session out of 11.
— CNBC's Anniek Bao, Lisa Kailai Han and Sean Conlon contributed to this report.
