Persian Gulf Outlook Lifts Asian Stock Markets
Asian stock markets rallied on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump indicated that Tehran-Washington negotiations to end Persian Gulf hostilities might resume, and as relative calm prevailed in the Strait of Hormuz.Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did other regional exchanges, led by 2.7% rise on Seoul's KOSPI index. Exchanges in Bangkok and Mumbai were closed on holiday.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 2.4% on Middle East outlooks and after US military ships navigated the Strait of Hormuz without incident.The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1,374.62 to 57,877.39, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 136 to 87.Leading the upside was tech-financiers SoftBank, up 12.7%, while property-concern Haseko declined 5.7%.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher, wobbled, but closed up 0.8% on strength in property issues.The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 211.47 to 25,872.32, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 61 to 29. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.6% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rallied 3.2%.Leading the upside was toymaker Pop Mart International, gaining 6.5%, while Xinyi Solar declined 3.4%.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1% to 4,026.63.In economic news, China's export growth slowed to 2.5% on-year in March, down from 21.8% on-year logged in the first two months of the year, reported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).In contrast, China's imports rose 27.8% on year in March, up from the 19.8% on-year gain recorded in the first two months of the year.On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE inclined 2.4%, the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.5% and the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%.The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 1.9% on the day.
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