Asian stock markets plunged on Monday as oil prices surged by nearly 30 percent amid concerns about supply disruptions from the Middle East. The conflict between Iran and the United States, along with Israel, has now entered its second week.
Singapore’s state-run CNA network reported that the soaring oil prices have heightened investor anxiety in global markets, which were already reeling from concerns related to soaring technology valuations and significant spending on artificial intelligence.
This has led to a sharp decline in the stock indices of several Asian economies. The report indicated that the sudden jump in oil prices prompted investors to accelerate selling to mitigate risks, pushing prices to their highest levels since the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis in 2012.
It added that markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Manila, and Wellington all experienced significant declines as the sell-off intensified across financial markets.
The Seoul stock exchange, one of the best-performing markets this year thanks to gains in technology stocks, saw its performance plummet by more than 8 percent at one point during trading.
The Nikkei index in Tokyo fell by about 7 percent, while stocks in Taipei declined by more than 5 percent, and China’s blue-chip index dropped by 2.3 percent, despite China being one of the world’s largest oil importers and possessing substantial reserves.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, surged by as much as 30 percent to $118.88 a barrel, while Brent crude jumped by 28 percent to around $118.73 a barrel.
