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Oil prices jumped and stocks fell after the US launched a fresh wave of attacks against Iran amid an escalating standoff over the strait or Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose ۴.۷% to $۷۹.۵۹ a barrel. Asian stock markets dropped sharply, with South Korea’s Kospi down ۸% and Japan’s Nikkei ۲۲۵ and China’s Shanghai Composite ۲% lower.
Chip companies were among the hardest hit, with shares in South Korea’s SK Hynix slumping by ۱۵%. Its rival Samsung Electronics sank ۱۰%.
The market swings came after the US military launched more strikes against Iran on Sunday evening, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
US Central Command (Centcom) said on X that the strikes were “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait of Hormuz”. It added that Donald Trump “has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable”.
It marks the latest cycle of attacks in the Middle East as Iran seeks to assert control over the strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes.
The escalations have cast further doubt on the fragile interim US-Iranian truce signed last month. Analysts at the bank Goldman Sachs wrote in a note: “Recent attacks highlight how uncertain Gulf exports remain and that a serious re-escalation could re-intensify the short-run upside risk to oil prices.”
The number of vessels passing through the strait is already falling, according to the data analyst Kpler. It found that just six vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, the fewest in five weeks.
Tankers that exited the strait included the very large crude carrier Humanity, which carried ۲m barrels of Iranian oil, and another tanker, Capetan Andreas, carrying about ۵۰۰,۰۰۰ barrels of Kuwaiti oil products, Kpler found. Three empty tankers entered the Gulf to load oil, it said. Most tankers switch off their transponders when crossing the strait.
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Trump said on Sunday that the shipping route was open to commercial traffic, although Iran said earlier that it had closed the strait after a vessel travelled on an unapproved route.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday that its navy stopped two ships in the strait on Sunday by shutting down their systems, although it did not name the vessels involved.
Gold fell on Monday by ۱.۵% to $۴,۰۶۰.۳۶ an ounce, as higher oil prices stoked fears that central banks could have to increase interest rates to combat inflation. Gold becomes relatively less attractive when interest rates are higher as the metal does not pay a yield.
