This content was published on
June 12, 2026 - 01:17
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were set to advance Friday, tracking a rally on Wall Street after President Donald Trump said the US was nearing an agreement with Iran, raising hopes for a diplomatic end to a conflict that has rattled global markets. Oil dropped.Equity-index futures for Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong all pointed to gains at the open. Contracts on US stocks edged higher after the S&P 500 rose 1.8% and the Nasdaq 100 jumped 3.3% on Thursday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged nearly 8%, leading a broad risk-on move across technology shares. SpaceX raised $75 billion, making history with the biggest-ever IPO.West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to below $86 a barrel as Trump pulled back from threatened military attacks against Iran, citing discussions that have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership for a negotiated end to the war. He said a signing could take place as soon as this weekend in Europe with Vice President JD Vance in attendance.Treasuries rallied on Thursday, sending yields lower across the board, as oil dropped. Gold extended its climb to over $4,240 an ounce. The dollar was a touch weaker against almost all its Group-of-10 peers.The latest push for a deal has buoyed risk sentiment by raising expectations that a widening Middle East conflict can be avoided and attention shifted back to company earnings and the AI-driven rally. Investors see de-escalation as removing a major source of uncertainty for markets and reducing the risk of energy-supply disruptions that could push up oil prices and reinforce expectations that central banks will keep interest rates elevated.“While the path toward a resolution is likely to be uneven, our base case is that diplomacy ultimately prevails, allowing investors to refocus on resilient economic fundamentals and robust earnings growth,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.Trump’s pullback of threatened military strikes against Iran was a stark reversal that came just hours after he vowed to hit the Islamic Republic “VERY HARD” and threatened to seize its oil infrastructure.Asked whether Iran’s supreme leader had agreed to a deal, Trump said, “I understand the answer is yes.” The country’s semi-official news agency Fars, however, said earlier Thursday that officials had not yet approved the text of any agreement with the US, citing an unnamed source.Traders are getting excited about a canceled air strike, and now a “great settlement,” but it is not yet a signed treaty, wrote Dave Mazza, chief executive officer of Roundhill Financial. “There’s material upside left if a deal is actually signed because oil and volatility are still pricing meaningful conflict risk. If it doesn’t, today’s gains were borrowed, and the market will want them back with interest since we’ve seen this before.”Trump’s comments lowered yields across maturities by eight to 11 basis points on Thursday, to the lowest levels of the week, and weighed on the dollar. Short-term interest-rate contracts that reflect expectations for the Federal Reserve — and had fully priced in a quarter-point increase in the US policy rate by December — shifted the assessment to the first quarter of 2027.Earlier Thursday, the European Central Bank raised rates for the first time since 2023.The oil-driven moves in bonds were complicated by the release of US inflation data showing bigger increases in wholesale prices in May than economists had estimated. Core prices excluding energy and food rose less than estimated, however.“Many are telling us they think the worst of the inflation data is in,” said Tony Farren, managing director in rates sales and trading at Mischler Financial Group. Lower-than-expected increases in core inflation despite higher energy prices “have changed the mindset of the Treasury market at least temporarily.”Corporate Highlights:Adobe Inc. said that its chief financial officer would depart the company, leaving the company without a top tier of veteran leadership after Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen announced in March that he would step aside. Intel Corp. jumped as Bank of America Corp. turned bullish on the chipmaker and upgraded it to a buy rating. Oracle Corp. sank after the company reported quarterly capital expenses that were higher than estimates. Eaton Corp. agreed to merge its mobility business with Dana Inc. in a deal valuing the combined company at roughly $10 billion including debt. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 8:13 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.9% S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 1.7% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1582 The Japanese yen was little changed at 160.01 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7639 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7050 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin was little changed at $63,353.41 Ether was little changed at $1,671.78 BondsAustralia’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 4.82% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $85.85 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,223.59 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
