Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Wednesday after two of Wall Street’s three major benchmarks closed at record highs overnight, boosted by optimism that the U.S. and Iran could reach an agreement.
By 12:00 pm AEST (2:00 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.1% after briefly touching fresh intraday highs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.4%, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 jumped 4.7%.
SoftBank Group shares climbed 10.7%, while chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron advanced 4.6%. In South Korea, major technology companies rallied, with SK Hynix adding 6.5%, Samsung Electronics and Seoul Semiconductor gaining 6.2%.
Investor focus was also on economic data, with Bank of Japan meeting minutes showing some policymakers expect consumer inflation to receive a significant boost in the second half of the current fiscal year as "prices of items not covered by subsidies continued to increase at a considerably rapid pace".
The minutes also revealed that two of the eight board members supported faster interest rate increases to move the BOJ’s policy rate closer to levels considered neutral for the economy.
The Bank of Japan lifted interest rates to a 31-year high of 1% at its June meeting, as higher fuel costs linked to Middle East tensions added to inflationary pressures from a weaker yen and tight labour market conditions.
In the U.S., major benchmarks finished higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.7% to a record close, the S&P 500 rose 1.8% to a fresh high, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.6%.
In commodities, ICE Brent crude dropped 5.3% to US$79.36 per barrel, while spot gold rose 0.6% to settle at US$4,077.27 per ounce.
Chinese markets also moved higher on Tuesday, with the SSE Composite Index gaining 0.3% to 3,822.9 and the CSI 300 rising 1.3% to 4,600.9.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.6% to 25,852.9, while India’s BSE Sensex eased 0.3% to 78,429.0.
European equities ended broadly higher, with the UK’s FTSE 100 rising 0.2% to 10,879.4. Germany’s DAX climbed 0.8% to a record close of 26,202.4, while France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.6% to finish at a record 8,666.6.
