Asian stocks today: Markets rallied as hopes grew that Iran war could end soon; Kospi jumps 5.5%, Nikkei rises 3.9%

Asian shares rallied in early trade on Wednesday after hopes grew that the Iran war could end soon.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose by 2.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi surged as much as 5.5% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.9%.The gains came after US President Donald Trump said that the United States could end its military actions in Iran within two to three weeks. “They're still quite far apart in terms of what a truce means, or what peace means, but the market is embracing the fact that they are talking. That's a positive sign, at least in terms of signalling or willingness to end the conflict,” said Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney. Stocks and bonds rallied and the US dollar weakened at the start of the Asian session, while strong economic data for March boosted Korean and Japanese markets, according to Reuters. In South Korea, Samsung Electronics soared 8% and SK Hynix rose 7.8% as exports climbed 48.3% year-on-year, while a separate manufacturing survey showed the fastest expansion in factory activity in more than four years.In Japan, business sentiment among large manufacturers improved in the three months to March, suggesting that uncertainty from the Middle East conflict has yet to dampen corporate confidence.US futures also rose, with S&P 500 e-mini up 0.3% and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.5%, following a 2.9% rally in the S&P 500 on Tuesday. The US dollar index nudged up 0.1% to 99.80, while the 10-year Treasury yield fell slightly to 4.297%. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin slipped 0.3% to $67,988.87 and ether declined 0.2% to $2,100.94.