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Persian Gulf Outlook Lifts Asian Stock Markets; Nikkei 225 Tops 70,000

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Asian stock markets largely churned higher on Thursday after Tehran and Washington late Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to end Persian Gulf hostilities.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rallied to close above 70,000 for the first time. Other regional exchanges mostly finished in the green, although Hong Kong and Shanghai declined.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.7% as traders assessed the chances the Strait of Hormuz, through which Japan obtains much of its crude, will soon open to tanker traffic.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1,151.24 to 71,053.49, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 135 to 84.

Leading the upside was food company Ajinomoto, up 8.4%, while video-game maker Konami declined 8.7%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and declined thereafter, closing down 1.6% on softness in oil, auto, tech and especially property sectors.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 387.35 to 23,924.81, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 75 to 17. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 1.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 4.3%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi AppTec, up 5.1%, while China Overseas Land and Investment declined 9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% to 4,090.48.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 1.3%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.7%, and the Thai Set declined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.3%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5% on the day.

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