MSCI’s Asia Pacific index gained 0.4%, with South Korea and Australia among the biggest movers. South Korea’s Kospi outperformed with a 1.26% rise, while Hang Seng futures pointed to a 0.3% opening gain.
Japanese trading remained closed through a three-day holiday run spanning Respect for the Aged Day, a bridging Citizen’s Holiday, and Autumnal Equinox Day. Markets there are due to resume on Thursday.
The advance followed a strong overnight session in the US, where the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.8% to touch a record high for the first time since June. A closely tracked semiconductor index surged more than 2%, lifting sentiment across the region. Shopify shares jumped 7.1% after the company announced a partnership with Meta Platforms centred on its Muse AI product.
Meanwhile in India, the GIFT Nifty, which provides an outlook on how the country’s stock market could open for the day, indicated a muted start in the red.
The Japanese yen held steady at 157.45 per dollar, while the offshore yuan was little changed near 6.6964.
Easing oil prices were doing much of the work in supporting equities, since cheaper crude eases inflation worries and takes pressure off bond yields according to a Bloomberg report.
Traders were also watching this week’s meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping for any movement on trade tensions, the report said.Brent crude fell further on Wednesday, dropping toward $98 a barrel before recovering slightly to settle near $99. That extended its losing run to six sessions and pushed declines past 9%, the steepest such stretch since August 2025, before the US joined Israeli strikes on Iran.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for November delivery slipped 1.1% to $89.56, falling below the $90 threshold.
Also Read: Bank of America says Brent crude oil could top $150 a barrel if Iran war disruptions persist
The retreat in oil came after Iran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within a week, while Saudi Arabia said it expected to restore its East-West pipeline which is a 7 million barrel-a-day route bypassing the strait, within days. The pipeline had been disabled by earlier attacks.
US President Donald Trump added to the optimism, calling a meeting between US and Iranian envoys “very productive” and confirming further talks would follow. This came despite his earlier UN address threatening to “annihilate” Iran.