Middle East war day 34 as it happened: Oil jumps after Donald Trump’s remarks dash hopes of end to war, Macron says ‘unrealistic’ to think strait of Hormuz could be opened by military operation,

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they have attacked an Oracle facility in their latest strikes against US tech companies in the Middle East.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Oracle’s data and computing centre in the United Arab Emirates was hit in response to attacks on Iran’s former foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi and his wife.

The guards reiterated in a statement to state media that they were targeting “espionage technology and artificial intelligence companies that are pillars of the enemy’s terrorist operations”.

Earlier they had claimed attacks on Amazon’s data centres in Bahrain.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted the chief of staff of the army, in the latest removal of the top brass at the Pentagon since Donald Trump returned to the White House.

The Pentagon confirmed General Randy George had been asked to step down early. George assumed his duties in 2023, and the role of army chief of staff usually serves a four-year term.

The Pentagon declined to comment on why George had been asked to step down. It was unclear whether the move, which was first reported by CBS, was related to the US war against Iran.

One person familiar with the situation said George was fired because of his close relationship with Daniel Driscoll, the army secretary, a political appointee who many people think is the most likely successor to Hegseth if the defence secretary is removed.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that George was retiring “effective immediately” and that the defence department was “grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation”.

Russia’s foreign minister spoke of “initiatives and proposals” to ease regional tensions in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Thursday.

Sergei Lavrov told Iran’s Abbas Araghchi about Russia’s “contacts” with regional countries, according to an Iranian readout of the call.

Araghchi reiterated that if the UN Security Council sought to create a solution for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, “not only does it not solve any problem, but it itself becomes part of the problem”.

US stocks ended a volatile session on the front foot, rebounding from earlier losses triggered by Donald Trump’s threat to escalate attacks on Iran.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent higher on Thursday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 per cent.

Both indices had opened sharply lower after Trump late on Wednesday warned the US would intensify its attacks on Iran in the coming weeks.

The price of real-world barrels of oil ready for delivery has soared to the highest level since 2008 after Donald Trump issued a renewed threat to Iran about more US attacks.

So-called Dated Brent, the price of shipments bought and sold in the North Sea, was assessed at $141.36 per barrel, the highest since July 2008, according to S&P Global, a research group that publishes the data.

On Wednesday Dated Brent was priced at $128.46, the highest assessment level since June 2022 in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The highest assessment on record was $144.22 on July 3 2008, according to Platts data.

Traders said the jump in prices for barrels of oil ready for immediate delivery reflected concerns over how a prolonged conflict could impact physical supply in the weeks and months ahead.

Trump on Thursday repeated his warning that the US could escalate the conflict and carry out more attacks against Iran unless they made a deal.

Iran’s foreign minister said strikes on the country’s civil infrastructure “will not compel Iranians to surrender”, after a day when bridges and a prestigious medical centre were attacked.

Abbas Araghchi, who has been the main Iranian interlocutor with regional countries, said such attacks show “an enemy in disarray”, in a post on X. He vowed Iran would recover stronger.

The head of the UN’s maritime body has urged countries to do more to support the 20,000 seafarers trapped in the Gulf, who face “dwindling supplies, fatigue and severe psychological stress”.

“Fragmented responses are no longer sufficient to resolve this crisis,” said Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, addressing a virtual meeting of 40 countries convened by the UK.

“What is urgently required is diplomatic engagement, practical and neutral solutions, and co-ordinated international action,” he said. The IMO is developing a “safe passage framework” to evacuate the sailors.

US oil prices closed at their highest level since mid-2022 after Donald Trump raised the prospect of the conflict in the Middle East escalating further.

In a televised address to the American people on Wednesday night, the US president insisted Washington would achieve its goals for the war “very shortly”, but he vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” over the coming weeks.

Trump’s comments dented investor hopes for a speedy resolution to the conflict and outweighed potentially positive developments elsewhere for energy markets. On Thursday, an Omani-managed liquefied natural gas carrier appeared to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, settled 11.4 per cent higher at $111.54 a barrel. That was the US marker’s biggest daily advance since March 6, leaving it at its highest since June 2022.

Brent crude, the international oil marker, settled 7.8 per cent higher at $109.03.

Iran’s president has condemned attacks on the country’s medical facilities, as Donald Trump warned Tehran to make a deal or face further devastating strikes.

“What message does attacking hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and the Pasteur Institute as a medical research center in Iran convey?” Masoud Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X. He urged humanitarian groups including the World Health Organization “to respond to this crime against humanity”.

The Pasteur Institute, one of the country’s most important medical research centres, suffered serious damage as a result of strikes on Thursday.

Jet fuel prices surged to a record high after Donald Trump’s latest warning to Iran heightened fears of an escalating war in Iran.

The north-west Europe benchmark closed at $1,904 a tonne, up 18 per cent from the previous day, according to price reporting agency Argus Media. Prices have now more than doubled from prewar levels.

The rally followed big moves in crude and diesel markets after Trump’s televised address reinforced concerns that the conflict would not end shortly.

Europe is particularly vulnerable to a shortage of Middle Eastern jet fuel, having become more reliant on supplies from the region since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Years of refinery closures have also eroded domestic production capacity.

A liquefied natural gas carrier is among three Omani-managed ships that appeared to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.

If it is successful in crossing the waterway, it would become the first LNG carrier to transit the strait since the war began.

The Sohar LNG, which according to Kpler data was not laden with cargo, switched off its transponder together with two crude oil tankers managed by the same operator as the trio moved into the strait.

The Sohar reported its destination as Oman’s Qalhat LNG export terminal, while the other two vessels, laden with oil, were destined for the Ras Markaz oil terminal in Oman.

UN experts called for an independent investigation into Israel’s “targeted killing” of three journalists in Lebanon, which they said was an “egregious attack on press freedom”.

Israeli forces on March 28 killed three journalists from the Al Manar and Al Mayadeen outlets while they were on a reporting assignment in southern Lebanon, the UN-appointed independent experts said.

“We denounce strongly what has now become a standard, dangerous practice of Israel to target and kill journalists and then claim, without providing any credible evidence, that they were involved with armed groups,” the experts said.

Global bond markets have steadied along with stocks, as traders weigh the likelihood of de-escalation in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Ten-year Italian bond yields were little changed on the day at 3.86 per cent, having previously risen as high as 3.98 per cent.

Gilt yields of the same maturity were up 0.02 percentage points at 4.85 per cent, down from an intraday high at 4.94 per cent.

The recovery came soon after Iranian media reported that Tehran was drafting a protocol with Oman to manage passage through the strait.

Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal London Asset Management, said the potential for a protocol “creates wiggle room for a deal, but would leave a hostile regime in charge of the strait, setting tolls and deciding who gets through”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia held a call to discuss the war in the Middle East and efforts to steady energy markets.

The two leaders “stressed the importance of an immediate end to the conflict”, according to the Kremlin, as well as “the importance of Russia and Saudi Arabia’s work together as part of Opec+” to stabilise oil markets.

Opec+ is an expanded format of the oil-producing cartel with the addition of Russia and others.

US stocks have pared their losses while oil has given up some of its gains in volatile trading.

The US blue-chip S&P 500 stock index was flat on the day, having earlier been down as much as 1.5 per cent.

Oil was at $106 a barrel, still higher for the day but off highs of $109.50.

The news that Iran is drafting a protocol on managing the Strait of Hormuz with Oman fuelled the swings in risk assets, said Jason Borbora-Sheen, a portfolio manager at Ninety One.

Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage passage through the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, said in comments reported by state media that new rules for the critical waterway would be needed after the war.

Even in peacetime, ships must get permission from Iran and Oman to pass through the Strait, Gharibabadi said, adding that Tehran would “soon” determine the level of tolls charged to transit the waterway.

Iran’s Pasteur Institute, one of the country’s most prestigious medical research centres, suffered extensive damage as fresh air strikes hit the capital Tehran.

Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, called the attack a “war crime” and a “barbaric assault on basic human core values”, in comments on social media platform X. Images on local media showed huge damage to the site.

The Pasteur Institute is a hub for vaccine production and has contributed to the control of infectious diseases in Iran and elsewhere in the region. 

The slide in US stocks reflected growing concerns that the war in Iran would escalate, according to investors.

It showed the market was considering the “ugly scenario it had priced out in the last two days”, when investors pinned their hopes on a quicker resolution, said Arun Sai, senior multi-asset strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

The debate has switched from what to buy in the event of a rally following de-escalation to “what hedges would work best” during a prolonged period of volatility, Sai added.

Guy Miller, chief market strategist at insurer Zurich, said that with “every day the war goes on, the economic impact deepens”.

“Investors are fearful of being whiplashed, [so] risks remain to the downside.”

Iran’s influential parliament speaker has claimed 7mn Iranians had responded to a government drive to mobilise support in preparation for a possible US ground invasion.

In the latest post in which he appeared to be targeting American audiences, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf hailed the recruits’ readiness “to pick up arms and stand in defence of our nation”, adding:

“Iranians don’t just talk about defending their country, we bleed for it. We’ve done it before, and we’re ready to do it again.

“You come for our home . . . you’re gonna meet the whole family. Locked, loaded and standing tall. Bring it on.”

The comments as thousands of US troops have been deployed to the Middle East and after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to blast Iran “into oblivion”.

US stocks fell in early trading as Donald Trump’s overnight comments raised fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict.

The blue-chip S&P 500 index fell 1.3 per cent in early trading, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 1.7 per cent.

The US president said he would hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks in a televised address on Wednesday evening after US markets closed.

Instead of giving “markets a clear de-escalation path”, Trump’s comments “revived fears of further strikes and a longer disruption around the Strait of Hormuz”, said analysts at Saxo Bank.

The UK will next week convene a meeting of military planners to discuss viable options to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The defence ministry has confirmed the plans for the meeting, which will examine how to make the waterway “accessible and safe for navigation”.

The guest list is expected to closely mirror the 40-odd nations convened by UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper earlier today to talk about diplomatic and political measures to restore shipping in the strait.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the UAE and a host of other nations from across Europe, Africa and the Gulf took part in the UK Foreign Office virtual meeting. The US did not participate.

Two people were killed and several injured after a strike on a bridge being built in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, according to the state-backed Fars news agency.

“The B1 Bridge, featuring highly sophisticated engineering, which was scheduled for inauguration in the near future, was targeted a short while ago in an attack by the US-Zionist regime,” according to the governor’s office of the province of Alborz. A photograph released by Fars showed the bridge broken in half.

Several locations were also targeted in nearby Azimiyeh, causing power outages in some areas.

Production at Iran’s largest steelworks has ground to a halt following heavy Israeli air strikes on the facility earlier this week.

Mobarakeh Steel Complex in Isfahan has confirmed that Tuesday’s bombing severely damaged its production lines and advised employees to refrain from visiting the site until further notice.

Meanwhile, Khuzestan Steel Plant in the south-west, which also ceased production after last week’s bombing, announced today that it will take between six months and a year to fully rebuild and resume operations.

UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper told counterparts from 40 allied nations that Iran had hijacked the Strait of Hormuz “to hold the global economy hostage”, during a virtual meeting on Thursday convened by the UK to discuss reopening the waterway.

Cooper cited an assessment that only five vessels had sailed through the strait in the past 24 hours compared with the usual 150.

“There have been over 25 attacks on vessels in the strait, and there are some 20,000 trapped seafarers on some 2,000 trapped ships,” Cooper said at the start of the meeting.

Military planners from the allied nations will convene next, she said, “to look at . . . issues such as demining or reassurance once the conflict eases”.

The US dollar rose 0.5 per cent against a basket of other currencies on Thursday, after dropping in the previous two sessions on hopes for an end to the Iran war.

The greenback, which often strengthens on global worries, has benefited from the conflict, partly because investors view the US as relatively insulated from the energy shock.

Donald Trump’s speech “has triggered renewed investor concerns that the Middle East conflict could escalate further before it de-escalates,” said MUFG’s Lee Hardman.

Emmanuel Macron said it was “unrealistic” to think that the Strait of Hormuz could be opened by a military operation, after Donald Trump put pressure on Europe to deal with Iran’s blockage of the key trade artery.

“This was never the option we have supported because it is unrealistic,” the French president said while on a trip to South Korea.

“It would take forever, and would expose all those who go through the strait to risks from the Revolutionary Guards and also from ballistic missiles.”

Vladimir Putin has said Russia wants the US-Israeli war with Iran to end “as soon as possible” and offered Moscow’s services as a mediator.

Responding to Donald Trump’s primetime TV address, the Russian president said Moscow was “ready to do everything to bring the situation back to a normal, as they say, normalised state”.

He added that the conflict in the Middle East was a matter of “widespread concern”.

Nigel Farage has claimed that Donald Trump is not serious in his threat to pull the US out of Nato.

The leader of the Reform UK party said he had discussed Nato with the US leader in the past and believed the president was committed to the defence alliance.

“Trump is not going to leave Nato,” said Farage, a longstanding Trump ally. “There are roughly 15 operational American bases within Nato countries. Is he going to leave Nato and sacrifice all that?”

Farage also said successive US presidents believed Europe had not contributed enough to the organisation.

Israeli forces killed “more than 40” Hizbollah militants and struck “dozens” of targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Israeli military said, as the warring sides continued to trade fire.

The targets included “dozens of headquarters, weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and anti-tank missile positions”, the military said, adding that its soldiers had also dismantled missile launch positions belonging to the Lebanese militant group.

Hizbollah continued to launch rocket salvos at northern Israel, which paramedics said injured two people in the town of Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanon border.

UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper will host a virtual meeting with allies on Thursday to discuss forming a coalition to work towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

France, Germany, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the United Arab Emirates were among the countries that last month joined Britain in signing a statement expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait”.

The US is not due to participate. Donald Trump said this week that it was for other nations to solve the effective blockage of the vital waterway.

A meeting of military planners is set to follow the talks between senior diplomats.

Diesel prices in parts of Europe have soared above $200 a barrel, as a lack of flows from the Gulf has tightened the global market for the fuel.

North-west European ultra-low sulphur diesel futures traded above $1,500 a tonne, equivalent to $200 a barrel, about twice its level before the conflict.

The Iranian threat to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has prevented almost all shipments of oil and refined products from reaching global markets for more than a month.

Iraq has begun exporting crude by road through neighbouring Syria, after Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz shut off its main shipping route.

Iraq’s state oil company said it had signed a contract to truck 50,000 barrels a day via Syrian land routes to the Mediterranean and Europe. The oil ministry added that it hoped to gradually expand these volumes.

Iraq’s economy is teetering due to the near-collapse of its vital oil sector since the war broke out, with exports slumping from more than 3mn barrels per day to about 250,000 and storage tanks at near-critical levels.

A top Iranian army commander said all future war threats against Iran must be removed and warned adversaries considering a ground invasion that no “enemy” soldier would leave the battlefield alive.

Reinforcing a show of Iranian defiance following Donald Trump’s speech on Wednesday night — in which the US president vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks — Major General Amir Hatami said Iran’s military was fully prepared to counter any aggression.

Hatami said: “If the enemy attempts a ground operation, no one should survive.”

Security must be ensured for all Iranian citizens, he added, saying: “We will not rest until we achieve our goals.”

The Israeli military said on Thursday it had carried out a series of strikes targeting regime infrastructure in Tehran and beyond, as Israel and Iran continued to trade fire.

Among the targets struck by the IDF yesterday was what the Israeli military said was a mobile command post belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, as well as a storage facility for ballistic missiles in Tabriz.

The strikes came as Iran continued to fire missiles at Israel, vowing on Thursday to fight on until its enemies had been “crushed”, and claiming that the US and Israeli bombardment had hit only “insignificant” sites.

Iran’s military struck a defiant tone following Donald Trump’s speech.

The Islamic republic will continue to fight until its enemies have been “crushed”, the military said.

A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbia Central Command said:

“The places you’ve hit are insignificant. Our strategic military production is carried out in locations you know nothing about and will never reach.”

The comments follow US President Donald Trump’s pledge on Wednesday night to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks, adding the US had already struck more than 12,300 targets inside Iran.

The US has set eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile programme as one of its war aims.

European stocks fell in early trading, as Donald Trump’s threats to escalate attacks against Iran sapped investor optimism over a resolution to the conflict.

The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1 per cent, while the FTSE 100 slipped 0.7 per cent.

“While Trump sounded flexible on remaining war aims . . . there was no signal of the US seeking an imminent off-ramp out of the war,” said Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid.

Global bonds also weakened. Ten-year gilt yields jumped 0.09 percentage points to 4.92 per cent as the price of the debt sank, erasing Wednesday’s gains. Yields rise as prices fall.

Trump’s comments punctured the optimistic mood that had taken over markets on Wednesday, when European stocks had their best day since last April, rising 2.5 per cent on hopes of de-escalation.

• Stocks were set to open lower in Europe and the US following Donald Trump’s speech.

• South Korea’s Kospi fell 4.8 per cent, leading declines in Asia.

• Brent crude rose nearly 7 per cent to more than $107 a barrel.

• European natural gas prices rose more than 6 per cent to €50.4 per megawatt hour.

• Gold fell nearly 4 per cent to $4,580.

Australia’s prime minister has issued his firmest call for an end to the conflict in the Middle East, citing the continued economic turmoil triggered by the war.

Anthony Albanese’s government has supported US and Israeli action against Iran, but in a speech in Canberra on Thursday he questioned the need for a prolonged conflict.

“It is not clear what more needs to be achieved or what the endpoint looks like. What is clear is that the longer this war goes on, the more significant the impact on the global economy will be,” he said.

The comments come as his government tries to ease concerns over a fuel shortage in the country that would hit the broader economy including agriculture and mining.

The US embassy in Baghdad has warned “militia groups aligned with Iran” may attack the central parts of the Iraqi capital in the next 24 to 48 hours, as it urged Americans to leave the country.

The embassy said in a post on X:

“[Militias] may intend to target US citizens, businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other locations perceived to be associated with the United States, as well as Iraqi institutions and civilian targets.”

It added: “US citizens should leave Iraq now.”

Iraq’s interior ministry on Tuesday confirmed an American journalist had been kidnapped in Baghdad.

The conflict in the Middle East promises a renewed cash injection in a defence contracting sector that had already seen its fortunes transformed by the war in Ukraine, as the US and its allies rush to refill weapon stockpiles.

In Washington, the Trump administration is preparing to submit a request to Congress for $1.5tn in defence spending for next year. The Pentagon has also asked the White House to request an extra $200bn for the war in Iran at the same time.

Contractors such as RTX, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of the $16.5bn in foreign military sales to Gulf states that the US has approved since the start of the Iran war.

President Donald Trump told the “countries of the world” grappling with the global energy crisis triggered by the Iran war that it would be up to them to break the Islamic republic’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has all but closed the critical waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil typically transits, in retaliation for the US and Israeli offensive.

Trump told Washington’s allies in Wednesday’s speech that “they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on”.

The president has lashed out at European allies for refusing to send their navies to reopen the strait by force.

“To those countries that can’t get fuel — many of which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran . . . I have a suggestion: number one, buy oil from the United States of America. We have plenty. We have so much,” he said. “And number two . . . Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”

But, later in the speech, Trump also claimed the strait would “open up naturally” when the war concluded.

Oil prices climbed and stocks fell after Donald Trump reiterated the prospect of an escalation in the war against Iran.

In a primetime address on Wednesday night, which lacked concrete details on when and how the conflict in the Middle East would end, the US president threatened to hit Iran “hard” after earlier having claimed progress in talks to end the war.

The price for Brent crude rose more than 4 per cent past $105 a barrel after trading as low as $99.08 prior to the speech.

Japan’s Topix and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. Both indices opened trading higher but fell following Trump’s address.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

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Donald Trump appealed for Americans to “keep this conflict in perspective” as he compared the duration of the Iran war with previous conflicts.

The president cited the length of US involvement in the first and second world wars, the Korean and Vietnam wars and other conflicts in the Middle East.

“We are in this military operation so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days, and the country has been eviscerated and essentially is no longer really a threat,” he said.

The comments came as Trump signalled the war with Iran would continue for at least several weeks.

Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks, and warned the US would strike the country’s power plants if no deal is reached with Tehran.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong,” Trump said.

The president also said Washington could attack Iran’s oil facilities, which have largely been spared in the US and Israeli bombing campaign. “We could hit it and it would be gone,” he said.

Donald Trump laid out his “core strategic objectives” in Iran, saying they were nearing completion.

“Our objectives are very simple and clear,” the president said in his first primetime address to the nation since launching the war nearly five weeks ago. “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.

“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten. Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb,” he added.

“These core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”

Donald Trump acknowledged that “many Americans have been concerned” about the rise in petrol prices during the Iran war but blamed it on the regime in Tehran.

“This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching . . . terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighbouring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict,” the US president said. “This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons.”

At the end of March, US petrol prices hit $4 a gallon, though drivers in some states are paying more.

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Donald Trump started his address with familiar praise from the White House for the military accomplishments of the month-long war.

“Our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield, victories like few people have ever seen before,” the US president said in a televised address on Wednesday night.

“Tonight, I want to provide an update on the tremendous progress our warriors have made in Iran and discuss why Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.”

Japanese and South Korean stock markets climbed for a second day on hopes that the US and Iran would reach a settlement to end the war in the Middle East. 

Japan’s Topix and South Korea’s Kospi both rose 0.7 per cent on Thursday morning. 

On Wednesday the S&P 500 closed up 0.7 per cent and the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 2.5 per cent. 

Markets have rebounded since US President Donald Trump said the Iran war would end in two to three weeks. He is due to address the nation at 9pm Eastern time in the US, or 9am in Hong Kong.

Brent crude traded around $100 a barrel, down 1.1 per cent for the day.

US stocks notched up their first back-to-back gains in a fortnight after investors upped their bets on a sooner than expected end to the Iran war.

The S&P 500 closed 0.7 per cent higher on Wednesday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.2 per cent. Both indices on Tuesday jumped by the most in about 10 months.

Memory chip stocks fared best, with Micron Technology, SanDisk and Western Digital all rising more than 8 per cent. Nike was the biggest faller, down 15 per cent after the retailer provided a gloomy year-ahead outlook.