IBARAKI, JAPAN – JUNE 17: Technicians at work in the clean room of the Fab Equipment at a semiconductor company, Renesas Technology Corp. on June 17, 2004 in Ibaraki, Japan. Renesas is the first company to produce semiconductor products from 300mm wafer in the world. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)
Koichi Kamoshida | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Wednesday, after statements from U.S. President Donald Trump raised hopes that the Iran war could be coming to an end soon.
On Tuesday stateside, Trump said the U.S. could leave Iran in “two or three weeks,” adding “We leave because there’s no reason for us to do this.”
U.S. crude futures were up 0.44% at $101.81 a barrel as of 7.40 p.m. ET.
Investors in Asia will look at the Bank of Japan’s tankan survey for the first quarter of 2026, which measures business sentiment among large Japanese companies.
Expectations from economists polled by Reuters indicate a marginal increase in business optimism among large manufacturers, despite the Iran war.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day 1.54% higher, driven by a rise in educational services stocks.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market, with the futures contract in Chicago at 52,960 and its counterpart in Osaka at 52,950 compared to the previous close of 51,063.72.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures last traded at 25,191, compared with HSI’s last close of 24,788.14.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes posted their best day since May, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.49%.
The S&P 500 gained 2.91%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.83%.
The moves followed an unconfirmed report that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to ending the war with guarantees.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Sarah Min and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.