I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Global markets rallied on US-Iran deal hopes. Australia's ASX 200 hit a record high, while Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan indices rose over 3%. SoftBank surged 12% amid MLCC price hike speculation driving Japanese and Korean makers higher. China's A-shares recovered to midday gains. Toyota fell on missed profit expectations, but Yamaha Motor soared on record profits.
Hopes that the US and Iran could reach an agreement in the near term, with a target announcement on Wed (5th), boosted US equities overnight (4th). The three major US stock indices closed higher, with the DJIA and S&P 500 hitting record highs, while the Nasdaq surged 2.6% led by tech stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 6.6%. Major Asia-Pacific markets mostly advanced today (5th), with Australia's benchmark index reaching a record high, while stock indices in Japan, S Korea and Taiwan each climbed more than 3%.
China's three major A-share indices opened down 0.2% to 3.4% this morning before turning higher. By midday, the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index rose 1.3% and 1.6% respectively, while the ChiNext Index gained 0.9%. Hong Kong stocks closed at 25,881 points at midday, up 28 points or 0.1%, with turnover of HKD142.97 billion. Taiwan stocks surged 1,392 points or 3.2% to 44,753. TSMC, UMC, HON HAI PRECISION, MEDIATEK and Delta Electronics rose 3.1% to 4.5%. Memory chip maker Nanya Technology gained 3.2%, while Winbond Electronics jumped 8.6%.
The Nikkei Index rose 2,051 points or 3.2% in afternoon trading to 66,009. SOFTBANK GROUP (9984.JP) soared 12%. Reports said major MLCC (multilayer ceramic capacitor) manufacturers in Japan and S Korea raised prices of high-end products by 15% to 30%, driving MURATA MFG (6981.JP) up 10.3% and TAIYO YUDEN (6976.JP) up 6.9%. TOYOTA MOTOR (7203.JP) fell 0.9% after its operating profit for the first fiscal quarter ended June declined 8.8%, missing expectations. Memory stock Kioxia (285A.JP) gained 7.1%. Motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha Motor (7272.JP) surged 18.7% after its revenue for the interim period ended June rose 17.2% YoY and operating profit climbed 88.6%, both reaching record highs, while the company also raised full-year guidance.
South Korea's Kospi once surged about 5% and was last at 6,599, up 240 points or 3.8%. Samsung Electronics rose 3.7%, while SK Hynix climbed 6.8%. Due to a sharp rise in index futures, the Korea Exchange activated the SIDECAR mechanism this morning, suspending program buying for five minutes. Boosted by the price hike news, major MLCC maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics surged 12.9%.
Singapore stocks and Thailand's SET 50 fell 0.4% to 0.5%. Malaysia's KLCI rose 0.9%. The Philippines' PSEI was steady. Vietnam's Hanoi Index rose 3.1%, while the Ho Chi Minh Index gained 0.5%. India's BSE Sensex rose 0.5%, while the Nifty 50 Index edged down 0.1%. Australia's ASX 200 Index rose 0.7% and hit an intraday record high of 9,217 points. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index gained 0.4%. (da/u)