That was enough to persuade some traders — or at least some trading computers — that Apple has finally struck a deal with China Mobile (CHL). The world’s largest cell phone carrier (740 million mobile customers) had been holding out for better terms and an iPhone compatible with its idiosyncratic network protocols.

Rumor had it that Tim Cook may have closed the deal during a visit to China in late July, helping push China Mobile shares up 1% in Hong Kong trading Thursday.

Apple, we later learned, will also be holding satellite media events in Berlin and Tokyo next week. That doesn’t seem to have taken any steam out of the China Mobile rumors. If anything, it heightened speculation that there may be more carrier deals afoot, perhaps with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo (DCM).

Apple shares were up as much as $3 (0.6%) in pre-market trading Thursday.