Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Stocks climbed to a record after President Donald Trump signaled progress toward a final agreement with Iran, adding fresh momentum to markets already buoyed by a rally in technology shares. Crude oil declined. We spoke to David Finnerty, Bloomberg's FX and Rate Strategist.

President Donald Trump said he would pause a US-led effort to help stranded ships exit the Strait of Hormuz to see if an agreement with Iran to end the war could be reached. "Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday. A US blockade of ships transiting to and from Iranian ports would "remain in full force and effect" despite the pause in the US-led effort to help stranded ships. For more analysis, we heard from Kirsten Fontenrose, Strategic Advisor at Systems Planning and Analysis. She spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts.