06:40 AM EDT, 04/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets rallied on Wednesday, following the early-morning announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the Persian Gulf between the US and Iran.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did other regional exchanges, led by a 6.9% rise on Seoul's KOSPI index.

Brent crude oil traded at $94.61 a barrel, down 13.4% from Tuesday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 5.4% on prospects the Strait of Hormuz would soon open to oil tanker traffic.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 2,878.86 to 56,308.42, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 197 to 27.

Leading the upside was memory-chip maker Kioxia, up 18.6%, while oil-driller Inpex declined 6.2%.

In economic news, Japan's real wages in February rose 1.9% on year, reported the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

However, Japan's Economy Watchers Survey index fell to 42.2 in March from 48.9 in February, striking the lowest level since February 2022. The monthly poll surveys mood of Japan's frontline customer-service workers, such as taxi drivers, bar and restaurant staff, and hotel workers.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, closing up 3.1%, led by tech issues.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 776.49 to 25,893.02 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 73 to 15. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 5.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2.6%.

Leading the upside was mobile-network operator CMOC, gaining 10.6%, while Sino Biopharmaceutical declined 4.6%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 2.7% to 3,995.00.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE inclined 4.6%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 2.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.8%, and the Thai Set inclined 1.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 4%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 4.9% on the day.

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