(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 21 mag - Japanese shares closed higher, amid optimism after US president Donald Trump stated that negotiations for a peace deal with Iran were in their final stages.

Market players welcomed the prospect of a reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz, which triggered a sharp decline in oil prices and eased inflationary pressures on Japan's import-dependent economy.

Sentiment was further lifted by a rally in SoftBank Group, which soared on the back of Nvidia's strong results and upcoming IPO plans for OpenAI and SpaceX.

On the economic data front, Japan posted a trade surplus of 301.905 billion yen in April, rebounding from a deficit of 149.522 billion yen the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance. Exports rose an annual 14.8% to 10.507 trillion yen on the back of solid global demand, while imports increased an annual 9.7% to 10.205 trillion yen.

Separately, private sector machine tool orders excluding volatile items fell a seasonally adjusted 9.4% month on month in March, reversing a 13.6% jump in February, according to the Cabinet Office.

Gains were led by financial and tech stocks, as the Nikkei.

225 closed up 3.14% to finish at 61,684.14 points.

(RADIOCOR) 21-05-26 09:00:32 (0200) 5 NNNN