On Thursday afternoon in the Oval Office, Donald Trump told reporters that a "great settlement" with Iran had been reached — pending only the finalisation of documents. The announcement, unconfirmed by Tehran, was enough to move hundreds of billions of dollars across global financial markets within hours. Wall Street's S&P 500 closed nearly 1.8 percent higher, recording its largest single-day gain since April and snapping a three-day losing streak.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added close to 1.9 percent. The optimism spread rapidly westward across the Pacific.

By Friday morning, South Korea's Kospi — already the best-performing major index of the year — had surged more than 8 percent in early trading, a remarkable move for a market of its size. Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed as much as 4 percent, Taiwan's TAIEX gained around 2.4 percent, and Australia's ASX 200 rose roughly 1.8 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added more than 1 percent. The breadth of the rally suggested that investors across two continents interpreted Trump's words as a credible shift, even in the absence of a signed agreement.