Singapore, Asia stocks surge after Trump signals Iran war to end in two to three weeks

[SINGAPORE] Asia markets rose on Wednesday (Apr 1) after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US could end its military campaign against Iran within two to three weeks.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose almost 2 per cent shortly after market open at 9.13 am, before closing 1.9 per cent higher.

In Malaysia, the KLCI rose 1.1 per cent over the day, while the Jakarta IDX Composite gained 1.9 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 2 per cent and Shanghai’s CSI 300 advanced 1.7 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 5.2 per cent up, while the broader Topix gained 5 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi ended the day 8.4 per cent higher.

In Singapore, one of the more actively traded counters by volume was CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust , which was up 2.2 per cent at S$2.34, after nearly 11.9 million units changed hands shortly after market open. It pared some gains to close 1.3 per cent higher at S$2.32, with 34.2 million units traded.

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Banking stocks were all in the green. DBS rose 1.2 per cent or S$0.66 to S$57.56 and UOB was up 1 per cent or S$0.38 at S$37.03. Meanwhile, OCBC ’s market cap broke past S$100 billion as it closed 2.6 per cent or S$0.58 higher at S$22.55.

Trump declared on Tuesday that he could soon end the month-long war in the Middle East, which has left the global energy market in convulsions, with especially harsh effects on Asian businesses and economies.

He said the war should end in two to three weeks, fuelling the Dow Jones Index’s 1,125.37 points, or 2.46 per cent rally to close at 46,341.51 in overnight trading in New York. The S&P 500 also gained 2.91 per cent, and Nasdaq advanced 3.83 per cent.