The Middle East conflict takes a dramatic turn! Time is now Trump’s biggest enemy, with a ceasefire right on the deadline. International oil prices plunged by 19%, and analysts say China’s hard-hitting assets are poised to rise, with China A-shares and Hong Kong stocks expected to set new highs.

In the early morning of April 8 Beijing time, as the situation in the Middle East took a sudden turn for the better, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke out, agreeing to pause the bombing and attacks on Iran within two weeks. The night before, Trump had also issued his final threat—“Iran’s entire civilization will be destroyed”—triggering a plunge in U.S. stocks while oil prices surged.

Trump said, “We received the ten-point proposals put forward by Iran and believe this is a viable basis for negotiations. The United States and Iran have almost reached consensus on nearly all the points of contention from the past, but the two weeks will allow the agreement to be finalized and completed.” In addition, the White House said Israel has also agreed to a temporary ceasefire.

Iran also responded, accepting the ceasefire proposal put forward by Pakistan. Iran will begin, together with the United States, two weeks of negotiations on April 10 in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The Strait of Hormuz—closely watched—will achieve safe navigation within those two weeks.

International oil prices then plunged. WTI crude oil futures fell all the way by 19%, while Brent crude oil futures’ drop widened to 16%, with both moving close to the $90 per barrel mark. In the Asia-Pacific market, stock markets in Japan and South Korea opened sharply higher, with the main indexes rising by more than 4% and 5%, respectively.

Renowned analyst Zhang Yidong said it’s very likely that this is the step Trump stepped back to before the midterm elections in 2026, choosing to accept the two-week ceasefire at the last moment of extreme intimidation of “destroying Iran’s civilization.” Over the coming months, extending this deadline and focusing on the midterm elections wholeheartedly will be Trump’s best option.

Earlier, Zhang Yidong had also pointed out that “ceasefire in April at the earliest, or in June if slower” under Taco2.0 would likely be the case.

Regarding investment advice after the ceasefire, he said that after the ceasefire, investors’ risk appetite increases. China’s hard-core assets will rise. The core logic is that the international order is being reshaped, with asset pricing shifting from an efficiency premium to a safety premium. In terms of configuration priority, before the ceasefire, the preferred choices are gold, energy, and resources. After the ceasefire, among safe assets, he suggests keeping only gold, while the rest can be more considered in high-tech, hard-tech, and advanced manufacturing industries.

Zhang Yidong emphasized that China’s hard-core assets will become the main backbone for China’s stock market’s strategic repricing. Whether for A-shares or Hong Kong stocks, the volatility since the start of the year is like “a gate fire that harms the fish in the pond”—it won’t change the long-term trend. Unless a low-probability event occurs such as a global financial crisis, both A-shares and Hong Kong stocks’ core broad-based index performances in the second half of the year are expected to reach new highs within the year.