Sawt Falasteen - Tokyo stocks hit record high as Iran peace hopes grow

The gains tracked Wall Street, which struck all-time peaks Wednesday with investors cheered by healthy earnings that indicated the US economy remained resilient despite surging oil prices and rising inflation overall.

Global stock markets "have staged one of the fastest recoveries in recent memory", said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

At the same time, "oil prices remain elevated... as investors look towards a possible extension of the ceasefire between the US and Iran while weighing the chances of a broader agreement that could ultimately reopen the Strait of Hormuz", he said.

The waterway, through which one-fifth of oil and gas usually passes, has been choked by Iranian forces since the US-Israeli offensive began.

In the eurozone, inflation leapt to 2.6 percent in March on surging energy prices, official data showed Thursday.

Yet even as the global economy reels from the fallout of war in the Middle East, China's economic growth topped expectations in the first quarter of the year, official figures showed.

Gross domestic product in the world's second-largest economy expanded 5.0 percent in the quarter from a year earlier.

"Hope has given way to a bright, beaming light at the end of the peace tunnel," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"The market is no longer asking whether there will be a deal. It is trading as if the deal is already signed, sealed, and quietly filed away."

The Tokyo and Seoul stock markets led a rally in Asia, as traders poured back into the AI-based tech investments that helped send global stock markets surging before the Middle East war started on February 28.

In a sign of the still-strong demand for artificial intelligence, Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC reported a record first-quarter profit of $18 billion, far outpacing estimates.

- Key figures at 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,613.00 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,308.33

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 24,173.46

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.4 percent at 59,518.34 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.7 percent at 26,394.26 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 4,055.55 (close)

New York - Dow Jones: DOWN 0.2 percent at 48,463.72 (close)

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $96.39 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $92.45 a barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1779 from $1.1801 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3542 from $1.3570

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.04 yen from 158.97 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.99 pence from 86.95 pence

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Q.Jaber--SF-PST