Asian markets rebounded in early trading Thursday following losses the day before after Iran launched a missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq.
Tensions decreased significantly Wednesday amid signs of de-escalation, as President Donald Trump said Iran “appears to be standing down” and announced fresh sanctions rather than immediate military action. Trump said the United States is “ready to embrace peace with all who seek it.”
U.S. stocks recovered after shaky pre-market trading, with the Nasdaq closing at a new record and the S&P 500 hitting an intraday record.
Japan’s Nikkei
surged 2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
rose 1%. The Shanghai Composite
advanced 0.5% and the Shenzhen Composite
ticked up 1%. South Korea’s Kospi
rose 1% and benchmark indexes in Taiwan
, Singapore
and Indonesia
gained. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
advanced 0.6%.
Among individual stocks, Screen Holdings
surged in Tokyo trading, while Yahoo Japan parent Z Holdings
, SoftBank
and Honda
also rose. In Hong Kong, Apple component makers Sunny Optical
and AAC
gained, while PetroChina
fell as oil prices receded Wednesday. Samsung
jumped in South Korea, while in Australia, Beach Energy
fell and Rio Tinto
advanced.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index
rose 0.5% to 3,253.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
advanced 0.6% to 28,745.09. The Nasdaq composite
rose 0.7% to a record 9,129.24.
Oil prices rebounded Thursday after first surging on news of the Iranian attack and then falling back once tensions appeared to be easing.
Benchmark U.S. crude
gained 48 cents to $60.09 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract fell $3.09 to settle at $59.61. It traded as high as $65.65 following the missile attack.
Brent crude
, used to price international oils, advanced 44 cents to $65.88 per barrel in London. It fell $2.83 the previous session to $65.44.
Gold
had a similar whipsaw day. It climbed as high as $1,604.20 per ounce before settling at $1,560.10.
In currency trading, the dollar
gained to 109.20 yen from Wednesday’s 109.08 yen.