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Asian Markets Rally on AI Optimism and U.S. Iran Deal Hopes

evening · · thread: Oil Prices Drop as US and Iran Pause Military Hostilities

4 sources across 3 countries · South Korea · Japan · Taiwan · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • Yonhap South Korea · Centre · State-affiliated · Cooperative; statutory national agency with state subsidy
  • The Korea Herald South Korea · Centre-right · Herald Corporation (Yeongpoong Group)
  • Kyodo News Japan · Centre · Non-profit publisher cooperative
  • Focus Taiwan Taiwan · Centre · Public · Central News Agency, statutory funding

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

Major Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday following optimism over artificial intelligence growth and reports of a potential agreement between the United States and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In Tokyo, the Nikkei stock index ended up over 3 percent, closing at 66,300.44, while the broader Topix index rose 2.13 percent. In Seoul, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 3.76 percent to close at 6,598.26. Taiwan shares also closed up 2.88 percent at 44,611.60. The gains followed record highs for the U.S. Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the United States and Iran could soon reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which led West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures to drop to 75 dollars per barrel. In South Korea, tech stocks led the rally with Samsung Electronics rising 2.5 percent and SK hynix climbing 5.77 percent. Conversely, Korean refiners SK Innovation and S-Oil saw declines. In Japan, the 10 year government bond yield fell to 2.805 percent as crude oil price declines eased inflation concerns. The U.S. dollar strengthened to the upper 157 yen range in Tokyo after a brief dip caused by concerns over currency intervention.

How each side framed it

Centre
These outlets focused on the broad market data and the specific geopolitical catalysts including the U.S. Iran deal and AI earnings.
Centre-right
This outlet emphasized the specific performance of major South Korean corporate bellwethers and the role of foreign investors in driving the KOSPI surge.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.