Asia Markets Rally on Iran Optimism, Strong U.S. Earnings

Global financial markets gained momentum in early Asian trading on Thursday, fueled by growing hopes of a diplomatic resolution between the United States and Iran, alongside a strong batch of corporate earnings from Wall Street. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.3%, marking its third straight day of gains, while Japan's Nikkei surged 1.5%. S&P 500 e-mini futures edged 0.1% higher heading into the session.

The positive sentiment followed a strong overnight session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.6%. Impressive quarterly results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley helped push both indexes to fresh record highs. With roughly 6% of S&P 500 companies having reported so far, approximately 84% have surpassed analyst forecasts — a promising start to the earnings season.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs expressed continued confidence in emerging market equities, citing expectations of robust underlying profit growth. They noted that earnings across the region would likely be supported by sustained artificial intelligence demand, which they believe remains largely shielded from the broader impact of rising oil prices.

Investors are also closely watching key economic releases, including Australian employment figures and China's GDP data. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), a cornerstone of the global AI supply chain, is expected to report a 50% jump in quarterly net profit, driven by soaring demand for its cutting-edge chips.

In commodities, Brent crude dipped 0.4% to $94.55 per barrel following reports that Iran may be open to allowing vessels to pass freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz as part of ongoing U.S. negotiations. Gold recovered 0.8% to $4,829.24. In the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin held steady at $74,832.83, while Ether slipped 0.1% to $2,360.71.