Asia markets tumble after Israel carries out limited strike in Iran; oil and gold prices spike

Taiwan’s Weighted Index led losses in Asia on Friday, falling 3.81% and closing at 19,527.12, its lowest level in over a month as most major markets in the region fell amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Asian equities declined as a person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Israel carried out a limited strike in Iran. Stocks and risk assets tumbled, while safe havens rose. Gold hit an all-time high as the Japanese yen also strengthened, while bitcoin plunged. Oil prices jumped more than 3% with global benchmark Brent crude futures crossing $90 a barrel, before easing to just above $88. U.S. stock futures dropped more than 1%, before recovering slightly to about a 0.5% loss. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.66%, paring earlier losses and ending at 37,068.35, while the broad based Topix fell 1.91% to 2,626.32. On a weekly basis, the Nikkei shed 3.65%. On Friday, Japan released its March inflation data, with the headline inflation rate coming in at 2.7%, down from the 2.8% seen in February. The core inflation rate — which strips out fresh food prices — stood at 2.6%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters. South Korea’s Kospi was 1.63% lower, finishing at 2,591.86, while the small-cap Kosdaq closed 1.61% lower and 841.91. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.98%, ending at 7,567.3 and marking its sixth losing session in seven days. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.95%, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 slipped 0.79% and closing at 3,541.66. Overnight on Wall Street, all three major indexes ended mixed, with the S&P 500 posting five straight days of losses, its longest losing streak since last October. The broad index lost 0.22%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.52%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.06%, closing just above its flatline for 2024.