Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit a record high Wednesday while the broader Asia markets were mixed as traders assessed the Middle East conflict outlook after President Donald Trump extended the U.S. ceasefire with Iran.
The Nikkei 225 gained another 585.86 points, or 0.4%, to close Wednesday at 59,585.86.
He added that the ceasefire would be extended until Tehran submitted a proposal or discussions were concluded, and that the U.S. military would continue its blockade of Iranian ports.
However, the timeline remains uncertain. Negotiators from Tehran said they wouldn’t attend the talks with the U.S., calling them a “waste of time,” Iranian state media reported Wednesday.
The uncertainty also delayed Vice President JD Vance’s trip to join peace talks, according to reports from Axios and The New York Times.
Japan’s exports rose for a seventh straight month, posting a trade surplus of 667 billion yen ($4.18 billion U.S.) in March, compared with a surplus of 1.1 trillion yen forecast, data from Reuters showed. The focus will also be on the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting next week.
Shares in SoftBank Group Corp. rose as much as 10%. Rene Haas, the chief executive officer of SoftBank-owned Arm Holdings, will assume the extended role of SoftBank Group International’s CEO, with effect from April 21
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng docked 324.24 points, or 1.2%, to 26,163.24.
Tech major SK Hynix saw shares drop nearly 1% following report that it will invest 19 trillion won ($12.90 billion) to build an advanced chip packaging plant in the country, as memory chip demand soars on artificial intelligence boom.
The country saw producer prices in March rising at their fastest pace in over three years, supported by higher oil prices amid the conflict in the Middle East, central bank data showed.
In other markets
The CSI 300 index in Shanghai moved forward 31.63 points, or 0.7%, to 4,799.63.
In Taiwan, the Taiex popped 273.36 points, or 0.7%, to 37,878.47
South Korea’s Kospi moved ahead 29.46 points, or 0.5%, to 6,417.93
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index subtracted 12.24 points, or 0.2%, to 5,002.72
In Australia, the AZX 200 dumped 105.84 points, or 1.2%, to 8,943.56.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 13.27 points, or 0.1%, to 12,945.60.
