Peace Hopes, AI Demand Lift Asian Stocks

(RTTNews) - Asian bourses recorded strong gains on Thursday as markets increased expectations of a deal to end the U.S.-Iran conflict. AI-led demand also boosted stocks in the tech space.

Amidst better-than-expected GDP readings, stocks in China finished trading on a positive note. China's economy expanded 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, versus 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter and beating market forecasts of 4.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.70 percent from the previous close of 4,027.21 to finish trading at a four-week high of 4,055.55. The day's trading ranged between 4,028.91 and 4,057.83. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 14,796.33, adding 298 points or 2.1 percent from the previous close of 14,498.45.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1384 points or 2.38 percent to close trading at a record high of 59,518.34 amidst renewed optimism surrounding an end to the middle East conflict. The day's trading ranged between 59,688.10 and 58,428.19.

TDK Corp jumped 13 percent followed by Trend Micro that rallied close to 10 percent. Komatsu, Kubota Corp, BayCurrent Consulting, all saw prices decrease more than 5 percent.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange jumped 447 points or 1.7 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 26,394.26. The day's trading range was between a high of 26,128.67 and a low of 26,403.07.

Korean Stock Exchange's Kospi Index gained 135 points or 2.2 percent from the previous close of 6,091.39 to close trading at 6,226.05. The day's trading range was between 6,126.06 and 6,231.03.

Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 8,955.00, dropping 24 points or 0.26 percent from the previous close of 8,978.70 amidst renewed concerns about inflation. The day's trading ranged between 8,937.30 and 9,017.20.

Life360 and Wisetech Global, both led gains with a surge of 12.4 percent, Reece and Newmont Corporation, both declined more than 5 percent.

The NZX 50 of the New Zealand Stock Exchange shed 11 points or 0.08 percent to close trading at 13,066.06. The day's trading ranged between 13,045.45 and 13,162.28.

Fonterra Shareholders Funds topped gains with a surge of 7.1 percent. Synlait Milk followed with gains of 4.8 percent. Kiwi Property led losses with a decline of 3.2 percent, followed by Ryman Healthcare that shed 2.8 percent.

Wall Street had closed on a mixed note on Wednesday amidst renewed hopes of an end to the Middle East war and positive earnings updates from the corporate sector. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.6 percent to close trading at a record high of 24,016.02. The S&P 500 also rallied 0.80 percent to finish trading at an all-time high of 7,022.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average however slipped 0.15 percent to finish trading at 48,463.72.