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Global equity markets surged across multiple regions this week, led by a historic rally in South Korea’s benchmark index fueled by twin tailwinds: booming investor optimism around artificial intelligence-driven chip demand and growing hopes for de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

When South Korean markets reopened Wednesday following a one-day national holiday, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) skyrocketed nearly 7% to hit an all-time closing high of 7,398.34. The rally was anchored by outsized gains in the country’s two leading semiconductor manufacturers, which supply the high-performance chips critical to powering generative AI and large language model applications. Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip producer, saw its share price jump almost 13% in early trading, while rival SK Hynix notched a 10% gain.

Market sentiment got an additional boost from geopolitical developments: Iranian officials confirmed they would travel to China for diplomatic talks ahead of the scheduled summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This diplomatic movement helped ease fears of prolonged disruption to global energy supplies, pulling oil prices lower after the sharp volatility triggered by the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war.

The upward momentum extended across most Asian markets, even as several major exchanges including Tokyo remained closed for public holidays. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.0% to 8,766.80 in morning trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.7% to reach 26,081.52, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.0% to 4,152.68.

In global energy markets, oil prices extended the downward correction that began Tuesday, erasing the sharp spikes recorded earlier in the week as conflict erupted. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.37 to settle at $100.90 per barrel, and international benchmark Brent crude dropped $1.50 to $108.37 a barrel. Even with the decline, prices remain far higher than the pre-conflict level of roughly $70 a barrel. U.S. military officials have confirmed an unofficial ceasefire is currently in effect, though significant uncertainties persist. U.S. forces are currently working to re-open shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint that carries roughly a third of the world’s seaborne oil exports out of the Persian Gulf, to allow commercial tanker traffic to resume.

The rally extended to U.S. markets as well, with all three major Wall Street benchmarks closing at record highs. The broad S&P 500 index gained 0.8% to close at 7,259.22, surpassing its prior all-time high set just the previous week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7% to finish at 49,298.25, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1% to hit a new record of 25,326.13.

U.S. economic data released alongside the rally painted a mixed picture. One report showed service sector growth slowed unexpectedly in the most recent month, with some businesses reporting that the ongoing Middle East conflict has started to dampen consumer spending. A separate labor market report offered more encouraging news, showing U.S. employers posted slightly more job openings at the end of March than analysts had forecast, signaling continued resilience in the national job market.

In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar edged marginally lower against the Japanese yen, falling to 157.88 yen from 157.89 yen in the prior trading session. The euro appreciated slightly, rising to $1.1720 from $1.1693.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed reporting from New York.

At the 2026 SelectUSA Investment Summit, the largest annual U.S. event dedicated to attracting foreign direct investment, a senior Trump administration official announced Tuesday that the federal government is undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s visa system. The reform effort comes in direct response to growing international anxiety over the administration’s harsh immigration policies that have chilled global business confidence.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau opened up about the administration’s regret over a high-profile 2025 raid that resulted in the detention and deportation of more than 300 South Korean business consultants and Hyundai employees at the company’s Georgia manufacturing facility. The incident sparked a significant diplomatic rift between Washington and Seoul, and amplified foreign fears that the United States has become an unpredictable and potentially unsafe destination for international business visitors and workers.

Addressing a foreign press briefing, Landau stated that the administration is committed to updating visa rules to directly address these widespread concerns. “Ultimately, we want to encourage and incentivize foreign countries to invest in the United States, and we need to make sure that our immigration laws and our visa laws, which we are very, very serious about enforcing, do not become an unnecessary impediment to such investment,” Landau explained. He added that while upholding border and immigration rules remains a non-negotiable priority, the administration sees balancing enforcement and investment attraction as a solvable challenge, not an irreconcilable conflict.

The 2025 Georgia Hyundai raid was not an isolated incident. Over the past term, the Trump administration has sharply ramped up anti-immigration rhetoric and expanded aggressive enforcement actions across the country. Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have conducted widespread roundups that have even ensnared U.S.-born citizens with foreign accents or immigrant backgrounds. International student protesters demonstrating in support of Gaza have been targeted and arrested, while travelers from traditional U.S. visa-free partners including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia have been detained at border crossings, had their digital devices seized, and held in overcrowded, unsanitary immigration detention facilities for weeks before deportation. The administration has also enacted sweeping travel bans targeting more than a dozen majority-Muslim countries and effectively gutted the U.S. asylum system.

Inside the summit’s exhibition hall, where every U.S. state and territory operates a booth pitching their regions as attractive hubs for tech, energy and manufacturing investment, anonymous economic development representatives from four southern Republican-led states — Kansas, Tennessee, Texas and Florida — acknowledged the internal contradiction at the heart of this year’s event: the administration’s openly unwelcoming messaging toward foreigners clashes directly with the government’s goal of attracting billions in foreign capital.

“There’s not a good answer,” one unnamed representative told Middle East Eye, which interviewed the officials on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press. “We’re having to speak out of both sides of our mouths to try to make them feel safe and protected.” The representative added that while the United States still holds its global reputation as the gold standard for investment opportunity from an outsider perspective, domestic political uncertainty has created deep unease.

A second representative noted that their team had held roughly 200 exploratory conversations with potential international investors over the first two days of the summit, with overall interest remaining dynamic even though the total number of inquiries has dipped slightly compared to 2025. A third official, who works at their state’s European commerce office, emphasized that while foreign investors do raise concerns about current U.S. policy, many large-scale deals under discussion are valued in the billions of dollars and structured for multi-decade timelines that will outlast current sitting political leaders.

Launched in 2013 under the Obama administration, SelectUSA has facilitated more than $400 billion in total foreign direct investment and supported over 270,000 domestic American jobs, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data. Last year’s summit drew more than 5,000 attendees from 96 international markets, alongside delegations from all 50 U.S. states and six territories.

The Commerce Department pitches the U.S. as a uniquely attractive investment destination, citing its $25 trillion GDP that makes it the world’s largest advanced consumer market, its stable democratic institutions, and a transparent, predictable legal framework that guarantees equal competitive footing for all companies regardless of country of origin.

Landau framed economic and commercial diplomacy as a core, “fundamental pillar” of U.S. foreign policy, noting that commercial ties create the most durable foundation for long-term international relations that outlast changes in political leadership. “Political leaders… will come and go,” he said. “I think there’s no more solid foundation for an enduring relationship between countries than commercial and economic ties.”

Still, the Trump administration’s policy choices have created significant disruption for global markets in recent months. Beyond immigration policy, the president’s broad tariffs on imported goods, and his administration’s backing of Israel’s military campaign against Iran that led to the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz, have added additional layers of uncertainty for international investors.

The 2026 SelectUSA Investment Summit is scheduled to run through Wednesday, May 6.