Business
Asian emerging stocks hit six-week high on renewed U.S.–Iran talks hope
Risk appetite improves as diplomatic signals ease oil fears, while Indonesia’s currency slides amid structural pressures
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
Emerging Asian stocks climbed to their highest level in more than six weeks on Wednesday, as hopes for a resumption of U.S.–Iran peace talks boosted demand for riskier assets. Indonesia’s rupiah, however, fell to a fresh record low.
U.S. President Donald Trump said talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, after negotiations over the weekend collapsed and Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Signs of renewed diplomatic engagement helped steady markets, pushed oil prices firmly below $100 a barrel, and lifted the MSCI Emerging Asia equity index more than 2% to its highest since March 2. A broader index of global emerging market stocks rose 1.7%, also reaching its highest level since early March.
Glenn Yin, director of research at brokerage ACCM, said regional equities were benefiting from growing bets on a peace deal, as investors reassessed risks around a key global energy chokepoint. Still, he said, a geopolitical risk premium remains.
South Korea’s KOSPI led regional gains, rising as much as 3.6% to its highest level since late February. Stocks in Taipei hit a record high of 37,064.16 points, with Taiwan’s tech-heavy benchmark up more than 10% over the past seven sessions.
Singapore stocks gained as much as 0.6%, touching their highest level since February 23, a day after the local central bank unexpectedly tightened monetary policy. Equities in Manila rose 1%, while Malaysian stocks slipped 0.3%. Thailand’s equity market was closed for a holiday.
The U.S. move to halt maritime trade in and out of Iran weighed on net oil importers in emerging Asia. Indonesia’s rupiah slid to a record low of 17,145 per U.S. dollar and is down nearly 1% over the past five sessions.
The rupiah is “facing structural pressures with persistent outflows from Indonesian bonds and a strong greenback as the key culprits,” Yin said, adding that the U.S. shutdown of Iran’s maritime trade was “another straw on the already fragile rupiah.” About a quarter of Indonesia’s crude oil imports come from the Middle East.
The Philippine peso fell as much as 0.4%, while the Thai baht weakened up to 0.2% to a one-week low. Elsewhere, the Taiwan dollar edged up 0.2%, and the Malaysian ringgit trimmed early gains to trade flat.