Stocks pushed higher in early Asia trading on Thursday as optimism grew about a deal to end the Iran war with the United States ratcheting up pressure on Tehran, while traders ⁠prepared for a raft of economic data and critical earnings reports.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 175 points, or 0.68 percent, up at 26,122.

The China enterprises index was up 61 points, or 0.7 percent, at 8,779 while the tech index was up 64 points, or 1.3 percent, at 4,976.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was little changed at 4,030, an uptick of three points, or 0.07 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index was almost 48 points, or 0.33 percent, up at 14,546 while the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was up 0.46 percent at 3,531.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average opened up 345 points, or 0.59 percent, at 58,479. The gains accelerated to 1,267 points, or 2.18 percent, at one point before noon.

In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) opened up 58 points, or 0.95 percent, at 6,149, with the rally widening to 2.25 percent later.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent, putting the benchmark on track for a third consecutive day of gains.

Overnight, the S&P 500 was up 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.6 percent, ⁠as strong quarterly earnings from Bank of America and ⁠Morgan Stanley lifted the ⁠indexes to record highs.

With around 6 percent of companies reporting earnings for the quarter, 84 percent have beaten analysts' expectations.

"We ⁠remain constructive overall" on ‌emerging market stocks as "underlying profit growth is likely to be strong," analysts from Goldman Sachs wrote ‌in a research report.

Earnings in the region will be "driven by AI-related demand, which ⁠should be relatively insulated from the direct impacts of the oil shock."

Economic data due for release include Australian jobs numbers and Chinese GDP.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), ‌a linchpin of the AI sector, is set to post quarterly earnings, with a 50 percent surge in net profit expected as demand for its advanced chips soars. (Reuters & Xinhua)



Edited by Raymond Yeung