Stocks rise and oil slumps on US-Iran truce as Alibaba leads AI charge
Asian stocks found footing and oil plunged after a two-week ceasefire was reached, subject to Tehran’s vow to completely reopen the Strait of Hormuz
The Hang Seng Index rose 3.1 per cent to 25,893.02 points at the close after trading reopened following three days of public holidays. The mainland’s CSI 300 Index climbed 3.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 2.7 per cent.
Alibaba Group Holding and other artificial intelligence-linked stocks jumped in Hong Kong and on the mainland in a sign that China was doubling down on the build-out of hyperscaler infrastructure.
The US and Iran agreed to start talks in Islamabad on Friday, while President Donald Trump ordered attacks on the Gulf nation to be held off for two weeks.
“Markets do not need full certainty to rebound. For markets, a ceasefire meaningfully reduces the near-term risk of escalation,” said Ray Sharma-Ong, deputy global head of multi-asset bespoke solutions at Aberdeen Investments. “That reduction in tail risk is often sufficient to trigger a rapid repricing, even if longer term uncertainties persist.”