Asia markets rebound, oil dives as Trump says Iran war could end soon

Asian stocks rallied and oil prices plunged at the start of trading on Tuesday, following a volatile session for markets overnight after US President Donald Trump declared the Middle East war could be "over soon".



South Korea's benchmark Kospi rebounded more than 5 per cent at the open, recovering after a sharp drop the previous day.



The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo also jumped more than 3 per cent.



MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.6 per cent. T



here were healthy advances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.



That came after all three main indexes on Wall Street ended sharply higher, having reversed early heavy selling.



Trump's remarks injected a burst of optimism that contrasted sharply with events in Iran, where hardliners rallied behind new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a pointed show of defiance.