Asia markets rise as investors weigh Iran military activity against signs of temporary U.S.-Iran deal Asia-Pacific markets traded higher as investors considered fresh military activity involving Iran against signs of a potential temporary agreement between Washington and Tehran. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi saw significant gains, with Samsung Electronics surging after announcing sample shipments of its new memory chip. U.S. futures traded near flat, following record closes on Thursday driven by a rally in technology stocks, particularly Snowflake after a strong earnings outlook.

• Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Friday.
• Investors are weighing new military activity involving Iran against signs of a potential temporary U.S.-Iran agreement.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi experienced gains.
• Samsung Electronics shares surged following the announcement of sample shipments for its new high-bandwidth memory chip.
• U.S. futures were trading near flat after major averages closed at record highs on Thursday.
• Tech stocks rallied on Thursday, boosted by Snowflake’s strong earnings outlook and enthusiasm for AI.