Asia-Pacific stock markets strengthened in Friday’s (29/5/2026) trading session as investors closely monitored the latest developments in the conflict between Iran and the United States. Quoting CNBC, market participants were also weighing signals that Washington and Tehran are moving closer toward a temporary agreement aimed at ending the conflict that has lasted for the past three months.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.88%, while the Topix gained 0.53% during morning trading. In South Korea, the Kospi surged 2.68%, and the small-cap Kosdaq index advanced 0.25%.

Australia’s stock market also traded in positive territory, with the S&P/ASX 200 climbing 0.72%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng futures were last recorded at 24,995, slightly below the previous closing level of 25,006.16.

On the geopolitical front, Iran’s state media outlet Fars reported that the Iranian armed forces launched missiles at several unspecified targets on Thursday night local time amid rising military activity in southern Iran.

The latest development came only hours after the Pentagon stated that Tehran had fired ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and deployed attack drones around the Strait of Hormuz. Tensions in the Middle East had previously raised market concerns over potential disruptions to global energy supplies.

Nevertheless, market sentiment improved after a White House official confirmed an Axios report stating that the United States and Iran had “largely agreed” on the terms of a temporary ceasefire arrangement. Expectations of de-escalation encouraged investors to return to riskier assets.

On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures traded relatively flat after the three major indexes closed at fresh record highs on Thursday. The rally in U.S. equities was mainly supported by gains in technology stocks, fueled once again by optimism surrounding developments in artificial intelligence (AI).

S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures moved sideways, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged up by 7 points, or less than 0.1%. In the previous regular trading session, the S&P 500 gained 0.58% to 7,563.63, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.91% to 26,917.47, with both indexes also reaching new all-time intraday highs.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.05% to 50,668.97. The rally in technology shares was driven by cloud computing company Snowflake, which issued a strong fiscal second-quarter outlook and renewed investor optimism toward the AI sector.

Snowflake shares soared 36.5%, marking the company’s largest single-day gain on record. The jump followed stronger-than-expected financial results and the announcement of a US$6 billion spending plan for Amazon Web Services over the next five years.