Asian stocks climb, oil dips as Iran ceasefire unravels
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- South Korea's Kospi gained 2.5% to 7,475.94, recovering earlier weekly losses, while SK Hynix dipped 0.3% in Seoul ahead of its Nasdaq debut.
- Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 68,557.73, with SoftBank Group — a key OpenAI investor — jumping 10.7% and chip-equipment maker Tokyo Electron adding 2.7%.
- Brent crude fell 0.8% to $75.66 a barrel and US crude shed 0.9% to $71.47, with prices 'yo-yoing' as a limited number of vessels were able to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
- US semiconductor stocks led Thursday's gains that spilled into Asia: Micron jumped 4.5% after announcing expanded US investment, AMD surged 5.7%, Marvell rose 5%, and ON Semiconductor added 4.4%.
- Trump declared the Iran ceasefire 'over' this week, and the US and Iran exchanged attacks — the catalyst that sent traders repositioning across Asian markets and crude.
- The Japanese yen strengthened to 161.70 per dollar after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told parliament the government plans to push pension funds toward yen-denominated assets.
Why it matters: Asian equities rallied Friday despite the US-Iran ceasefire collapse, with the Kospi gaining 2.5% and the Nikkei adding 1.2% on chip-stock strength. The semiconductor surge — Micron, AMD, and Marvell up 4-6% — shows investors chasing AI demand over geopolitical risk, though Brent at $75.66 remains above the roughly $72 pre-war level.
