The Japan Times - Asian stocks surge on Iran hopes and Samsung deal

Rallies in tech equities also drove gains, as Elon Musk's SpaceX disclosed its filing for what could be the largest initial public offering in history.

Japan's Nikkei index jumped more than 3.5 percent after Iran said it was examining a new US proposal to end the Middle East war.

President Donald Trump described on Wednesday the talks as being on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed attacks.

Cautious hopes rippled quickly through financial markets. Oil fell more than five percent Wednesday, while US stocks rose.

But analysts warned investors remained wary after weeks of false starts, and on Thursday crude prices edged up around 0.5 percent.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index soared 6.8 percent in morning trade -- with Samsung Electronics trading 5.9 percent higher.

Samsung's union said late Wednesday that a strike had been put on hold after negotiations with management resumed with the participation of Seoul's labour minister.

The labour union at the world's top memory chip maker had planned to begin a strike on Thursday after talks over bonuses broke down -- raising concerns about potential disruption to semiconductor production.

But the strike "will be put off until further notice", it said, adding that it would put a tentative wage deal to a members' vote between May 23 and May 28.

- IPO frenzy -

Taipei jumped 3.6 percent, Sydney gained 1.6 percent and Singapore was up 0.4 percent.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok and Wellington were up, but Jakarta lost 1.5 percent.

Adding to tech investors' excitement over the IPO for US rocket and satellite giant SpaceX was a Wall Street Journal report that ChatGPT maker OpenAI could be next.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said OpenAI was preparing to file for a stock market listing in the coming days, possibly as early as Friday.

OpenAI did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

But shares in Japan's SoftBank Group -- a major investor in the top US artificial intelligence startup -- skyrocketed 20 percent.

Chip giant Nvidia also posted record quarterly revenue Wednesday, blowing past Wall Street forecasts thanks to insatiable demand for its AI hardware.

Overnight gains of US shares, hopes for the end of the war in Iran and drops of oil prices were among factors that cheered Tokyo investors, said brokerage house Monex.

"Following the upward trend in the US market", the Japanese market was expected to open with "buying activity dominating today", it said.

In Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran had "received the points of view of the American side" and was examining them.

"We've been hearing about negotiations for two months, so investors are taking President Trump's rhetoric with a cautious tone," said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $98.75 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $105.43 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.5 percent at 61,920.02

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 25,716.38

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 4,194.28

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3428 from $1.3442 on Wednesday

Euro/pound: UP at 86.55 pence from 86.53

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1622 from $1.1629

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.92 yen from 158.89

New York - DOW: UP 1.3 percent at 50,009.35 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 10,432.34 (close)

K.Inoue--JT