Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Tuesday as investors welcomed a broad regional rebound following a recovery on Wall Street and a sharp pullback in oil prices after United States President Donald Trump signalled the conflict with Iran could be nearing its end.
Oil markets retreated after Trump said he was considering seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz, the most critical chokepoint for global crude shipments.
Trump also told a CBS News reporter, who shared the comments in a post on X, that “the war is very complete, pretty much”.
By 11:30 am AEDT (12:30 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading 1.3% higher, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 2.8%, while South Korea’s KOSPI 200 surged 5.4%.
The gains in Asia followed a rebound on Wall Street overnight. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4%.
In Japan, revised figures showed the economy expanded faster than initially estimated in the final three months of 2025, supported by stronger business investment.
Gross domestic product rose 1.3% on an annualised basis, significantly above the preliminary estimate of 0.2% and slightly ahead of economists’ median forecast of 1.2%.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis without annualisation, Japan’s GDP grew 0.3%, matching expectations and improving from the earlier estimate of a 0.1% rise.
However, separate data showed Japan’s household spending fell 1.0% in January from a year earlier.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday that the government is considering measures to curb gasoline prices in order to cushion households and businesses from the impact of higher fuel costs caused by the Iran conflict.
In South Korea, revised data showed that gross domestic product contracted 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2025, slightly better than the earlier estimate of a 0.3% contraction.
The result marked the country’s first quarterly contraction since the first quarter of 2025 and reversed a 1.3% expansion recorded in the previous quarter.
In Australia, the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 1.2% to 91.6 in March from 90.5 in February.
Matthew Hassan, Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting, commented:
"While consumers remain firmly pessimistic, sentiment continues to show some resilience. The relatively muted negative response to the RBA’s 25bp rate hike in February has been followed by a slight improvement in March.
"However, daily responses point to a material weakening over the course of the survey week, likely reflecting growing concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
"Responses from those surveyed in the last three days were consistent with an index read of just 84."
Among commodity markets, Brent crude rallied 6.8% on Monday to settle at $98.96 per barrel, while spot gold slipped 0.7% to close at $5,137.91 per ounce.
Elsewhere in Asia, China’s SSE Composite Index declined 0.7% to 4,096.6, while the CSI 300 dropped 1% to 4,615.5.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.4% to 25,408.5, and India’s BSE Sensex slid 1.7% to 77,566.2.
European markets also ended Monday’s session in negative territory, as the UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% to 10,249.5, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.8% to 23,409.4, and France’s CAC 40 declined 1% to close at 7,915.4.
