Global stock markets rallied sharply after US President Donald Trump announced he had called off planned strikes against Iran and claimed a peace deal with Tehran is imminent.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index closed nearly 1.8 percent higher on Thursday, ending a three-day losing streak with its biggest single-day gain since April.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.5 percent, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 1.9 percent.
The rally extended into Asia-Pacific on Friday, with markets in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia posting gains.
South Korea's Kospi, the best-performing major index this year, surged more than 8 percent in morning trade, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose as much as 4 percent.
Taiwan's TAIEX gained about 2.4 percent, Australia's ASX 200 rose 1.8 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up more than 1 percent.
Brent crude oil fell about 1 percent to below $89.50 a barrel on hopes for a return to normalcy in the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil supplies.
The market rebound followed Trump's suggestion on Thursday that a deal to end the war with Iran could be signed as soon as this weekend.
"We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran… subject to finalisation of documents," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Iran has not publicly confirmed Trump's claims, but a foreign ministry spokesman said a memorandum of understanding with the US is "under consideration."
"For the rally to be sustained, investors will want to not only see the actual deal being signed, but a complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.
"Only then will we see the gains extend."
Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG in Sydney, said the rally reflected a "meaningful easing of geopolitical risk" as well as anticipation of SpaceX's market debut.
"The broader read on today's Asian follow-through is that dip-buying interest remains genuine," Yip said.
"This looks less like a structural break in the bull market and more like a healthy reset after a rapid advance."
Source: www.aljazeera.com