SoftBank surges more than 10% as Iran-U.S. deal sends Asia tech stocks soaring
Asian tech stocks surged Monday on news that Iran and the U.S. have reached a deal.
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SK Hynix Inc. 12-layer HBM3E memory chips, front, and a LPDDR5X CAMM2 memory module arranged at the company's office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asian tech stocks surged Monday, as investors cheer news that Iran and the U.S. have reached a deal to end the Middle East conflict.
Japanese tech investor SoftBank was the best performer among major tech stocks in Asia, ending Monday's session at 10% higher. Tokyo Electron and Advantest added 7% and 7.67% respectively.
Memory chip behemoths and heavyweights on South Korea's Kospi Index, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix gained 4.5% and 6.42%, respectively.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC rose 2.81%, while Hon Hai Precision, also known as Foxconn, added 2.69%.
Softbank, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have seen huge overall gains in recent weeks. Last month, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each crossed $1 trillion market valuation, while SoftBank recently became the most valuable company in Japan.
The moves follow a risk-on sentiment amid expectations that the Middle East conflict could end soon, as the U.S. and Iran have reached a peace deal.
According to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday, both Iran and the U.S. have agreed to a deal, with both sides declaring immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts. The official signing ceremony will be on Friday, June 19, in Switzerland, he said. Pakistan has served as a mediator between the two countries.
"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without a toll system and the U.S. will also end the naval blockade of Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump said In a Truth Social post. "Ships of the World, start your engines," Trump said. Let the oil flow!"
The broader tech space has done fairly well, according to Ecaterina Bigos, BNP Paribas Asset Management's chief investment officer of core investments Asia ex Japan.
"Because again, not to forget that investors are trying to rebalance some parts of the portfolios, but they still want to stay in that race of AI," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Monday.
Broader Asia markets were also higher Monday, amid signs of the end of the Middle East conflict.
