Major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region rose in Wednesday morning trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained by 4.5% while South Korea’s Kospi exchange jumped by 5.5%.
US stock market futures also pointed to a higher open for Wall Street stocks.
Futures contracts are an agreement to buy an asset at an agreed price at a later point in time. In the case of US stock stock futures they can indicate the direction of the market before it opens.
In a social media post on Tuesday evening, Trump said: “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks… subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz”.
He had set a deadline for 20:00 EDT on Tuesday (00:00 GMT on Wednesday), threatening that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if no deal was reached.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media that Tehran will agree to a ceasefire “if attacks against Iran are halted”, adding that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz “will be possible”.