Oil prices ease and Asian shares gain on hopes for Mideast deal, as companies report strong profits

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares surged and oil prices slipped Wednesday after the U.S. stock market rallied to records, helped by strong corporate earnings reports and hopes for a deal setting the stage for talks that might eventually lead to an end to the war in Iran. Benchmarks jumped more than 3% in Tokyo, Seoul and Taiwan as shares in computer chipmakers and other AI-related companies advanced.Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 3.3% to 66,068.24, with chipmaker Kioxia surging 6.3% while chip testing equipment maker Advantest soared 6.9%. The Kospi in Seoul shot up 4.4% to 6,642.02, led by a 6.7% gain for memory chipmaker SK Hynix. Tech giant Samsung Electronics advanced 4.1%. Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 3.1% as major chipmaker TSMC gained 3.5%. “Clearly today the market is rallying on the back of AI stocks. You look across the other sectors, there’s a bit of activity here and there but really the focus has been back on semiconductors, technology and AI,” said Neil Newman, head of strategy for Astris Advisory Japan.

Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite index picked up 1.3% to 3,873.56, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged 0.1% higher, to 25,881.20.In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 9,209.00.