The highest increase of nearly 2,000 points! A nationwide surge! Middle East suddenly changes, Trump will deliver a nationwide speech.

Asia-Pacific markets rallied across the board.

After U.S. stocks surged sharply higher overnight and closed higher, on April 1, Asia-Pacific stock markets rose across the board. The Nikkei 225 index rose by nearly 2,000 points at its peak, with the gain once exceeding 4%. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose by more than 6%. Meanwhile, at the start of trading, the Korea Exchange kicked off the KOSPI index circuit-breaker mechanism after KOSPI 200 futures rose by 5%, and automated trading was paused for 5 minutes.

In addition, the MSCI Asia-Pacific index rose by more than 3.6%.

Mainland China A-shares and Hong Kong stocks also opened sharply higher.

As of the time of publication, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.14%, and the Shenzhen Component Index was up 1.14%. The STAR Market composite index rose 2.33%, the ChiNext index rose 1.11%, and the Beijing 50 index rose 1.64%. More than 4,700 stocks across the A-share market were in positive territory.

The Hang Seng Index rose 2.02%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.71%.

On the news front, both Iran and the United States released ceasefire signals.

On March 31, the White House said that U.S. President Trump will deliver a nationwide address at 9:00 PM Eastern Time on April 1 (9:00 AM Beijing Time on April 2) to provide “significant updates” on the Iran issue.

Earlier that day, Trump said the U.S. could end its military action against Iran within two to three weeks: “We’re going to be leaving very soon.” He has only one goal: that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons—“and that goal has been achieved.” If an agreement is reached with Iran, the fighting might end even sooner, but even if the U.S. does not reach an agreement with Iran, the fighting can still end.

Regarding restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said the U.S. does not have to be responsible for the Strait of Hormuz: “We’re not related to that,” “That’s the responsibility of all countries that need to use this strait.”

In addition, on March 31, Iran’s President Pezeshkian said Iran has a “necessary willingness” to end the war, provided the other side meets Iran’s demands, especially by making the necessary assurances that it will not invade again.

On March 31 local time, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said the United States can “see the end zone” of the war in Iran. He said ending the war in Iran is not today and not tomorrow, but it will eventually come. Rubio said there is no country taking any action to help Iran or hinder the U.S.’s mission. He also said that at some point in the future, it may be possible to hold direct talks with Iran. Rubio further said that after the war in Iran, the U.S. will have to re-evaluate its relationship with NATO.

On Israel’s side, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a video address on March 31 local time, saying Israel is forming new alliances with some “important” countries in the region to address what he calls the “Iran threat.” In the video address, he did not specify which countries are involved, nor did he provide more details.

Compiled from: Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News, CCTV International News

Proofread by: Yang Lilin