* Japan's Nikkei jumps 3.6%, S.Korea's KOSPI surges 7.8%
* President Trump says peace deal could be signed this
weekend
* Dollar stabilises after overnight losses, Treasuries hold
onto gains
(Updates prices ahead of European markets open)
By Stella Qiu
SYDNEY, June 12 (Reuters) - Asian stocks extended a global
rally on Friday on hopes a Middle East peace deal may finally
materialise, while the dollar and bond yields dropped and oil
prices marked two-month lows, tempering inflation fears.
European bourses are set to open sharply higher, with
pan-region futures up 1.8%. Wall Street futures rose
about 0.2%, building on the strong rally from overnight.
All eyes are on the hotly awaited market debut of Elon
Musk's SpaceX, which has made history with the
biggest-ever initial public offering. The IPO raised a record
$75 billion, valuing the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer at
$1.77 trillion and making Musk the world's first trillionaire.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a peace
deal could be signed as soon as this weekend, hours after
threatening more strikes on Iran. He said negotiations with
Tehran had advanced to the highest levels of Iran's leadership
and had been approved by a broad coalition of regional powers.
Trump's remarks follow repeated bouts of optimism from the
president that have failed to yield a deal, keeping markets on
edge. In this case too, Iran countered that it had not reached a
final decision on an agreement.
Nonetheless, "this does look perhaps a bit more tangible
than we have had," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at
National Australia Bank.
"If we hear something from Iran that sounds positive, the
odds (of a peace deal) are clearly going to flip quite
dramatically."
The deal, if confirmed, would be the most significant
diplomatic breakthrough yet to end the three-month-old war,
which sent global energy prices sharply higher. The European
Central Bank had to raise interest rates for the first time in
nearly three years on Thursday to nip war-driven inflation in
the bud.
Oil prices slumped to two-month lows on expectations of an
impending agreement. Brent crude futures dropped 1.8% at
$88.76 per barrel, having fallen nearly 3% overnight.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
jumped 3.7%, led by a 7.8% surge in South
Korea's KOSPI. Japan's Nikkei rose 3.6%.
China's blue-chip CSI300 rose 1.5%, while Hong
Kong's Hang Seng gained 2%.
Overnight, Wall Street rallied with the three major indexes
registering their biggest daily gains since April 8, when the
U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire. The Nasdaq jumped
2.5%, helped by expectations of a strong market debut for Musk's
SpaceX.
"With a fixed offer price and a larger than usual retail
allocation, the early float is also likely to be held by a more
diverse and potentially less patient investor base, which could
amplify near-term volatility," said Hugh Lam, an investment
strategist at Betashares.
Treasuries held onto gains as hopes of a peace deal in the
Gulf led markets to trim bets of a rate hike from the Federal
Reserve this year. Pricing for a hike in October has come down
to 36% from 51%.
Two-year Treasury yields were steady at 4.073% on
Friday, having slumped 6 basis points (bps) overnight. Benchmark
10-year Treasury yields held at 4.4690%, after
falling almost 8 bps overnight.
The dollar stabilised after overnight losses. It rose 0.2%
to 160.20 yen, after retreating 0.4% in the prior
session. Traders are still on high alert for intervention from
Japanese authorities as the yen stays close to the 160 level
that many see as a line in the sand.
Precious metals retreated on Friday. Spot gold
slipped 0.7% to $4,183 an ounce, following a 3.5% jump
overnight, while spot silver also fell 0.9% to $66.72 an
ounce, after a 5.8% gain.