Asian stocks rally after Trump’s Iran ceasefire and ‘immediate’ Hormuz opening—even as it remains unclear how open the strait actually is

Asian markets surged Wednesday morning as investors welcomed a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, even if details of what the temporary truce means for transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remain unclear.

As of 2:30am Eastern time, South Korea’s KOSPI is up by 7.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 5.5%. Taiwan’s TAIEX jumped 4.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, back from a long holiday weekend, also gained 3.1%, while Australia’s ASX 200 is up by 2.6%. 

Benchmark indices in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines rose by more than 2.0%. (Investors may have also been cheered by indexmaker FTSE’s signal that it will upgrade Vietnam to emerging market status, and won’t downgrade Indonesia to a frontier market). Singapore’s Straits Times Index and Malaysia’s KLCI both rose by less than 1.0%.

Airline stocks, which have been hard hit by fuel shortages, jumped on Wednesday. Australian flag carrier Qantas rose by 10%, while budget airline AirAsia surged by 6.9%. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific jumped by 4.7%.

Late on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the start of a two-week Pakistan-brokered ceasefire with Iran. The news........

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