IBARAKI, JAPAN – JUNE 17: Technicians at work in the clean room of the Fab Equipment at a semiconductor company, Renesas Technology Corp. on June 17, 2004 in Ibaraki, Japan. Renesas is the first company to produce semiconductor products from 300mm wafer in the world. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)
Koichi Kamoshida | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets rebounded Wednesday after statements from U.S. President Donald Trump raised hopes that the Iran war could end soon.
On Tuesday stateside, Trump said the U.S. could leave Iran in “two or three weeks,” adding “We leave because there’s no reason for us to do this.”
U.S. crude futures were up 1.34% at $102.72 a barrel as of 10.42 p.m. ET, while Brent futures climbed 1.27% to trade at $105.29 per barrel.
South Korea’s Kospi led gains in the region, surging over 6.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 5.38%, after data showed South Korean exports in March jumped 48.3% from a year earlier, beating Reuters poll estimates of 44.9%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 4.04%, led by financial stocks, while the broad-based Topix added 3.79%.
The Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey for the first quarter of 2026, which measures business sentiment, showed optimism among large Japanese manufacturers rising to 17 from 15. That beat expectations of 16 from economists polled by Reuters and reached its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2021.
Large non-manufacturers’ business sentiment stood at 36, unchanged from the previous quarter and above Reuters poll expectations of 33.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.71%, powered by basic materials stocks, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1.47%.
According to a private survey China’s manufacturing activity slowed in February. The RatingDog PMI came in at 50.8 in February, missing Reuters-polled analysts’ forecast for 51.6 and slowing from a more than 5-year high of 52.1 in February.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.7%, driven by a rise in educational services stocks.
U.S. futures also ticked higher, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures up 0.16% and 0.24%, respectively. Dow futures rose 44 points, or 0.09%.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes posted their best day since May, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.49%.
The S&P 500 gained 2.91%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.83%.
The moves followed an unconfirmed report that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to ending the war with guarantees.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Sarah Min and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
