Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Asian stocks hovered near record highs in holiday-thinned trading as optimism that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will restore oil flows and curb inflation pressures buoyed risk appetite. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed after five straight days of gains, while the chip-heavy Kospi was the top performer in the region, jumping 2.6%. A gauge of the sector in the US surged more than 6% to an all-time high, led by Intel Corp., after President Donald Trump said the company would work with Apple Inc. to design and manufacture semiconductors in the country. We speak to Lianting Tu, Bloomberg's Managing Editor for Asia Equities.

Plus - The US-Iran interim peace deal took effect and shipping started returning to the Strait of Hormuz as the US declared an end to its blockade and a complex negotiating period over Tehran's nuclear program began in earnest. US Vice President JD Vance told reporters Thursday at the White House that the 60-day clock for working out the contentious details in the so-called memorandum of understanding signed late Wednesday had started ticking. He downplayed concerns Iran could eventually impose tolls on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would turn the crucial transport chokepoint — widely considered international waters — into a moneymaker for Tehran. Bloomberg TV hosts Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn speaks to Jessie Moritz, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy -- ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies.