Asia markets rally on optimism Iran war could end soon

Stocks and bonds rallied and the dollar wallowed at the ‌start of the Asian trading session on Wednesday on hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran conflict, while significantly better-than-expected economic data for March propelled a rebound in Korean and Japanese shares. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.7%, snapping a four-day losing streak as South Korea’s Kospi surged as much as ​5.5%. The Nikkei 225 also jumped 3.9% at one point, after US President Donald Trump said the United States could end its ​military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and that Tehran did not have to make a ⁠deal as a prerequisite for the conflict winding down. “They’re still quite far apart in terms of what a truce means, or what ​peace means, but the market is embracing the fact that they are talking,” said Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney.