Hong Kong stocks jump as risk appetite returns after US and Iran agree on ceasefire


Hong Kong stocks surged alongside other markets in Asia on Wednesday, as the US and Iran struck a two-week ceasefire, reviving demand for risk assets that was pummelled by surging oil prices and fear of global stagflation.

The Hang Seng Index rose 2.7 per cent to 25,801.54 points as of 10.38am local time, reopening trading after three days of public holidays. The mainland’s CSI 300 Index climbed 1.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1 per cent.

The tentative ceasefire came just less than two hours before the expiration of the US’ deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a marine corridor that controls one-fifth of the world’s oil flows. Failure to meet the deadline would escalate the war, with US President Donald Trump earlier threatening to decimate power plants and bridges in Iran.

“Lower oil prices remove the chokehold that has weighed on regional risk sentiment, especially in markets that feel imported energy shocks first and hardest,” said Stephen Innes, a managing partner at SPI Asset Management. “With crude backing off, the pressure on inflation expectations and front-end yields eases at the margin, and that is enough to let capital rotate back towards risk, at least for now.”

The month-long US-Iran war has rattled global financial markets, weighing on stocks and bonds, amid jitters that oil’s trading above US$100 a barrel would slow global growth, fuel inflation and erode corporate margins.

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US and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire amid Pakistani mediation efforts

US and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire amid Pakistani mediation efforts

Asian stocks have been hit the hardest, as key economies including Japan and South Korea are among the nations most reliant on oil imports.

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