The Irish Press - Stocks rally, oil dips on Mideast war optimism

Frankfurt's stock market jumped more than two percent, while London and Paris both gained close to two percent in midday deals.

That came after Asian markets closed sharply higher, with Seoul soaring more than eight percent, Tokyo up five percent and Chinese stocks also rising.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office the United States would end operations in Iran "very soon", perhaps within "two weeks, maybe three".

The White House also said he would address the nation at 0100 GMT Thursday "to provide an important update on Iran".

"The market appears increasingly optimistic that an end to the war in Iran is in the offing as big gains in the US and Asia were matched in Europe," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Oil prices dipped, with international benchmark Brent down around one percent after falling as much as five percent earlier, while the main US contract WTI declined almost two percent.

The comments came as the economic impact of the conflict worsens, with average US gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon for the first time in four years this week, European inflation spiking and governments unveiling a range of support measures.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic republic had the "necessary will" to end the war, provided its enemies guaranteed it would not flare up again.

Those comments helped Wall Street surge on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq closing up 3.8 percent and the S&P 500 adding almost three percent.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Israel would press ahead with its military campaign and that "we will continue to crush the terror regime".

Traders remained wary as fresh strikes hit Tehran on Wednesday, and an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar was hit by an Iranian missile.

Trump also said US forces would not work to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil passes, and said it was up to other countries to do so.

"Despite today's relief wave on markets, deep problems remain," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

She said that elevated crude prices, still about 50 percent above pre-war levels, "signals that scepticism still remains about Trump's claims of progress, and worries persist about how extraction from the conflict is still set to be complex".

In company news, shares in Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu, which went public to great fanfare in January, soared more than 32 percent after it said revenue from its cloud business almost tripled last year.

- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.9 percent at 10,370.63 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.9 percent at 7,962.97

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 2.3 percent at 23,196.43

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 5.2 percent at 53,739.68 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.0 percent at 25,294.03 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 3,948.55 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 2.5 percent at 46,341.51 (close)

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $102.85 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $99.66 a barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1603 from $1.1551 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3314 from $1.3236

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.54 from 158.77 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.15 pence from 87.28 pence

G.Beary--IP