Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Asian stocks rose and oil paused a three-day rally after President Donald Trump played down the prospect of a prolonged conflict with Iran. The yen strengthened, gaining for a second session to trade around 158.44 per dollar, and keeping traders on alert for further intervention by authorities. Gains in Japan and South Korea helped MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities gauge advance 0.7%, with technology shares drawing attention after Broadcom Inc. predicted a boom in artificial intelligence chip sales. For more, we talked to Phil Palumbo, Founder, CEO & CIO of Palumbo Wealth Management.

On Wednesday, President Trump said renewed US attacks on Iran would likely be short-lived and reiterated his claim that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz. Nonetheless, the return to a hot war between the US and Iran has jeopardized shipping through the Strait and continues to impact the global shipping industry for a closer look, Bloomberg TV host Shery Ahn spoke with President and CEO of Mitsui OSK Lines Jotaro Tamura.