06:38 AM EDT, 03/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets rallied on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said Washington-Tehran talks were underway to possibly end the Persian Gulf conflict, and that the US would abstain from hitting Iranian power plants for five days.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and held ground, finishing up 1.4% as traders weighed prospects for oil prices and Persian Gulf calm.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 736.79 to 52,252.28, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 208 to 16.

Leading the upside was insurer Tokio Marine, up 17.1%, while game-maker Nintendo declined 4.8%.

In economic news, Japan's consumer price index-core (CPI-core) in February rose 1.6% on year, striking below the Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target for the first time in four years. The core-CPI strips out certain fresh foods.

The headline flash seasonally adjusted flash Japan composite purchasing managers index (PMI), a combination of the nation's manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 52.5 in March from 53.9 in February, but still struck above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction, reported S&P Global.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and rose to the close, concluding up 2.8%.

The broad gauge Hang Seng gained 681.24 to 25,063.71 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 81 to eight. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 2.5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2.1%.

Leading the upside was Laopu Gold, gaining 16.1%, while Sinopharm declined 3.6%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.8% to 3,881.28.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 2.7%; the Taiwan TWSE bucked trends and declined 0.3%; the Australian ASX 200 added 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.4%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.9%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 1.9%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 1.9% on the day.