Oil prices fell more than 4%, and Asian stocks rose on Wednesday amid prospects for de-escalation and negotiations between the United States and Iran, the Associated Press reports.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 3% to 53,806.15. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.6% to 5,643.09. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7% to 25,227.73, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.1% to 3,925.27.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed toy maker Pop Mart fell more than 15% after the company reported annual revenue for the previous year that largely matched analyst estimates. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.9%. Taiwan's Taiex gained 2.5%.

Trump's statements about progress made in talks with Iran this week, along with his decision on Monday to push back the deadline for "destroying" Iranian power plants following the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, also fueled optimism that the war with Iran may soon come to an end, AP writes.

As the Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for the transportation of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, oil and gas prices have surged and fluctuated sharply in recent days. Oil prices fell again amid growing hopes for de-escalation.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped 4.2% to $96.07 per barrel, having traded at around $104 on Tuesday. The U.S. benchmark crude fell 3.8% to $88.89 per barrel on Wednesday morning.

U.S. futures rose more than 0.7% on Wednesday. U.S. stock indices closed lower on Tuesday. The S&P 500 lost 0.4% to 6,556.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 46,124.06, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8% to 21,761.89. Estee Lauder shares fell more than 9% after it was confirmed that the U.S.-listed company is in merger talks with Spanish cosmetics and fragrance group Puig.

In other Wednesday morning trading, gold prices resumed their rise after an earlier decline — driven in part by rising U.S. Treasury yields as expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts faded following the sharp surge in oil prices, which threatened to trigger global inflation. Gold rose 3.6% in early Wednesday trading to $4,557.30 per ounce, having earlier this month traded above $5,000. The U.S. dollar stood at 158.98 Japanese yen, up from 158.69. The euro traded at $1.1591, down from $1.1608.