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News that Iranian officials were traveling to China ahead of a
summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi
Jinping lifted market sentiment.
Trump said he was pausing a U.S. effort to guide stranded ships
out of the Strait of Hormuz to allow space for finalizing a deal
with Iran on ending the war. The American forces’ blockade of
Iranian ports remains in place.
In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi gained 6.5% to 7,384.56,
surpassing the 7,000 level for the first time. Samsung
Electronics' stock jumped 14% in a rally driven by expectations
of strong growth in artificial intelligence.
Shares in SK Hynix, another major Korean computer chipmaker,
shot up nearly 11%. Both Samsung and SK Hynix are major
manufacturers of the memory chips vital for AI applications.
Tokyo trading was closed for a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3% to 8,793.60. Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng gained 1.2% to 26,213.78, while the Shanghai Composite
index rose 1.2% to 4,160.17.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude slipped $3.55 to $98.72
a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $3.43 to
$106.44 a barrel, extending declines that erased big jumps
earlier in the week. The prices still remain well above their
roughly $70 price before the war with Iran began.
A ceasefire with Iran is in effect, U.S. military leaders say,
although uncertainties clearly remain. The U.S. military is
trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would
allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 156.18
Japanese yen from 157.89 yen. The euro cost $1.1752, up from
$1.1693.
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