Major Asian equity markets closed Wednesday's session in negative territory as the Middle East returned to the centre of market attention. A series of US strikes against Iran drove oil prices up more than 3%, reigniting fears of a fresh escalation in the conflict that could cloud the outlook for inflation and monetary policy.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index — the benchmark for Asian trading — closed down 0.33%, with most regional exchanges already shut. South Korea's Kospi fell as much as 6% during the session, approaching bear market territory — defined as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs — before paring losses to close down 5%.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the United States struck more than 80 Iranian targets in response to Tehran's latest attacks on three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Central Command. Washington also moved to revoke a sanctions waiver that had until now allowed Iran to sell oil on international markets.
"Ultimately, the sharp rise in oil prices and the revocation of the Iranian oil waiver reinforce the case for pre-emptive interest rate increases by central banks, given the ongoing risk that second-round inflation becomes entrenched," said Sean Keane, Asia-Pacific strategist at JB Drax Honore, in comments to Bloomberg.
Iran has already pledged to take "whatever measures it deems necessary" in retaliation. The strikes came at a moment when financial markets were already under added pressure from a sell-off in semiconductor manufacturers and artificial intelligence-linked stocks. Iran's Revolutionary Guard also carried out attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait.
Among the major Asian bourses, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix fell 1.63% and 0.97% respectively, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.84%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was not spared from the gloom, declining 0.12%. Moving against the trend, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged more than 3%, driven by a 13% jump in Alibaba shares.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/08/mercados/ataques-dos-eua-ao-irao-pintam-asia-de-vermelho-kospi-aproxima-se-de-bear-market/
