Market talk suggested that Iran and the United States had reached a final draft of a peace agreement. Although an Iranian official later denied that a deal had been concluded, differences between the two sides were reportedly narrowed. Major Asia-Pacific equity markets broadly advanced today (22nd), with Japan and Taiwan both setting record closing highs.On the Mainland, the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets rose 0.87% and 2.3%, respectively, for the day. Hong Kong equities gained 219 points, or nearly 0.9%, to close at 25,606, with turnover of HKD281.298 billion. Taiwans market surged 899 points, or 2.2%, to 42,267, marking a record closing high. TSMC and Hon Hai Precision Industry rose 1% to 1.1%. MediaTek jumped 8.7%, while Delta Electronics and Wistron each climbed 3.2%.The Nikkei index rallied 1,654 points, or 2.7%, to close at 63,339, also a record closing high. Boosted by news that OpenAI is planning an initial public offering, SoftBank Group extended gains after surging nearly 20% in the previous session, rising a further 11.9% today. South Koreas market added 32 points, or 0.4%, to 7,847. Samsung Electronics fell 2.3%, while SK Hynix edged up less than 0.1%.Singapores market rose 19 points, or 0.4%, to 5,065. Australias S&P/ASX 200 and New Zealands NZX 50 increased 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. The Philippines PSEI gained 0.7%, while Thailands SET 50, Malaysias KLCI and Indias Nifty 50 edged up 0.1% to 0.3%. Indonesias IDX rebounded from a more than one-year trough, rising 1.1% for the day. Vietnams Ho Chi Minh Index fell 1.1%, while the Hanoi Index rose 1.2%.(da/a)
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