Trump pledges to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz; Asian tech stocks lead record market rally.

Asian stocks surged on Monday, with tech stocks rebounding, buoyed by strong earnings from major U.S. tech companies and comments from President Trump that the U.S. would begin guiding some neutral ships stranded in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index, excluding Japan, rose as much as 2.7%, a record high. Benchmark indices in South Korea and Taiwan, both dominated by tech stocks, soared by more than 3.5%. SK Hynix shares jumped nearly 10%, and TSMC shares jumped over 6%. Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone Group, said the current strength in markets like South Korea is due to AI-driven trading or speculation. She said she is “cautiously optimistic about Asian markets overall” because geopolitical uncertainty and high oil prices could constrain stock markets. (Jinshi)