Asian stocks surged on Thursday as some vessels resumed passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while forecast-beating results at Nvidia and a suspended workers' strike at Samsung Electronics lifted shares of chipmakers.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 2.6%, snapping a four-day streak of losses. Korea's leapt more than 7%, Taiwanese shares rose 3.5% and Chinese blue-chips gained 1.1%.
Brent crude futures edged up 0.6% to $105.68 a barrel in Asia trade, retracing declines after three supertankers passed through the strait on Wednesday and Iran consolidated its control of the waterway.
Supply concerns persist though following a U.S. inventory drawdown. On Wednesday, Wall Street rose 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.5% after three days of losses.
Gains came as President Donald Trump said the U.S. was ready for further action against Iran if no peace deal was reached, but indicated Washington could wait a few days to “get the right answers.”
"Oil prices declined and other major markets rallied, as investors took comfort from headlines quoting Trump saying the U.S. was in the 'final stages' with Iran," analysts from Westpac wrote in a research report.
Asian chipmakers' shares rose after Nvidia's better-than-expected revenue forecast on Wednesday as CEO Jensen Huang aimed to reassure investors that the world's most valuable company can sustain blockbuster growth in demand for its flagship AI chips.
"The chip landscape remains Nvidia’s world with everybody else paying rent, as more sovereigns and enterprises wait in line for Nvidia's chips," said Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities in New York.
However, Nvidia's shares fell 1.3% in extended trading, while S&P 500 e-mini futures slipped 0.2%.
"The market’s reaction was relatively muted by its own lofty standards," said Tony Sycamore, Market Analyst at IG in Sydney.
In Seoul, Samsung Electronics shares surged 6% after the electronics giant's union said it would suspend industrial action upon reaching a tentative pay deal with the company, averting a strike by nearly 48,000 workers that threatened South Korea's economy and global chip supply.
However, the rally was blunted after a shareholder group said the management's tentative pay deal with its labour union was illegal.
Japan's Nikkei 225 share jumped 3.6% after S&P Global's flash manufacturing PMI showed expansion in May, albeit at a slower pace than a month earlier, slipping to 54.5 from 55.1 in April, but still firmly above the mark separating growth from contraction.
"By and large, external demand has turned out exceptionally strong despite the U.S.-Iran conflict," analysts from DBS wrote in a research report.
Separately, Japanese exports rose 14.8% year-on-year in April, Finance Ministry data showed, rising for an eighth straight month and confounding fears of stagflation in the global economy. Against the yen, the dollar was flat at 158.84 yen.
The Aussie dollar sank 0.7% to $0.7105 after Australian employment unexpectedly fell in April, while the jobless rate jumped to the highest since late 2021.
Flash PMI data showed activity in the country's service industry slowed to 47.7 in May from 50.7 a month earlier, though a corresponding manufacturing gauge held at 50.2, just above the mark separating expansion from contraction.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's 28-29 April meeting showed policymakers' concerns about inflation intensified last month, with a growing number open to the possibility that they may need to raise interest rates.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would “love” to see British-run Northern Ireland unify...
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad sayin...
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck two cargo vessels overnight in the Ukrainian Black Sea port o...
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, explosions were heard across parts of southern Iran according to local media reports.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
Mexico and the U.S. are racing to secure a trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources familiar with the talks, with failed negotiations between Washington and Canada adding urgency.
A Russian strike on a gas station in Kyiv has killed two people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a statement on Telegram. In Russia, online marketplace Ozon has suspended operations in Saratov, southwestern Russia, following a drone strike on a warehouse in the region.
Volkswagen’s supervisory board has approved a major overhaul aimed at cutting 100,000 jobs by 2030 as the German carmaker battles weaker sales, falling profits and intensifying global competition.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called on American companies to expand their presence in China and pledged that Beijing would address their "reasonable concerns," as China looks to stabilise trade ties with Washington ahead of President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the U.S. later this month
Apple is entering a new era as Tim Cook steps down as chief executive after 15 years at the helm, handing the technology giant's leadership to longtime executive John Ternus.
Volkswagen is heading towards a decisive showdown with labour representatives as Germany's largest carmaker weighs sweeping restructuring measures that could lead to factory closures and tens of thousands of job losses.
Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is seeking to raise up to $1.77 billion in a Hong Kong IPO after its valuation fell around 70 per cent from its private-market peak four years ago.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment