Japan's Nikkei jumps on renewed hopes for Middle East peace
TOKYO, June 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average jumped more than 4% on Friday as investors scooped up stocks on renewed hopes for peace in the Middle East after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had cancelled planned strikes against Iran.
The Nikkei .N225 was up 4.06% to 66,822.56, as of 0025 GMT. The broader Topix .TOPX gained 2.2% to 3,914.74.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States and Iran could sign a peace deal as soon as this weekend that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, but Iran countered that it had not reached a final decision on an agreement.
In Japan, technology shares led the Nikkei's gain, with chip-related Advantest 6857.T and Tokyo Electron 8035.T jumping 8.8% and 10.49%, respectively.
Memory chipmaker Kioxia 285A.T rose 5.94%. Technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T was up 3.34%.
Staffing agency Recruit Holdings 6098.T and camera and audio equipment maker Sony Group 6758.T fell more than 1% each.
All but four of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indices rose. The mining sector .IMING.T fell 1.02% to become the worst performer.
