By Tracy Qu

Asian airline stocks surged after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week cease-fire.

The Middle East conflict pushed crude oil prices sharply higher in recent weeks, raising concerns about higher fuel costs and prompting several major airlines to increase their fuel surcharges and revise spring and summer schedules in response to the higher costs.

Before the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in late February WTI crude oil futures were trading around $67 per barrel, since the attacks it surged as high as nearly $118 per barrel. WTI crude plunged 17% to $93.90 per barrel in early Asian trade Wednesday after the cease-fire was announced.

Air China jumped 6.0% on Wednesday in Hong Kong, while Cathay Pacific rose 4.1% and China Southern Airlines climbed 6.0%

Elsewhere, Singapore Airlines gained 2.2%, Japan Airlines rose 4.0% in Tokyo and Korean Air Lines jumped 8.4% in Seoul.

That recovered some of their losses in recent weeks. Air China's Hong Kong shares fell 33% in March, while Japan Airlines' and Cathay Pacific's shares each fell about 20%.

Though Asian markets are broadly higher thanks to the cease-fire, analysts caution that it may not lead to a resolution to the war.

"The immediate risk-on sentiment following today's ceasefire is not surprising. It reminds investors of Trump's 90-day tariff pause on 9 April 2025, when the S&P 500 jumped 9.5% in a single session and subsequently extended its rally," said James Ooi, a market strategist at Tiger Brokers in a note.

He said that both sides appear to prefer a truce in the long term and both have incentives to avoid a prolonged conflict.

"While uncertainty remains and bears will always argue that it is still too early to buy the dip, equities are currently trading at relatively attractive valuations," he said.

"In addition, early signs of capitulation among both institutional and retail investors in recent weeks suggest there is still meaningful dry powder that could be redeployed into risk assets."

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2026 00:03 ET (04:03 GMT)

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