US EditionJapan's Nikkei 225 Index Closes Down 5.2% and South Korea's Benchmark Kospi Falls 6% as Higher Oil Prices Spur Selling
Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI dropped over 5% and 6% respectively due to oil price surge and geopolitical tensions linked to the Iran conflict.
- On Monday, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell around 5.2% and South Korea's KOSPI sank 6.2% as WTI crude briefly surpassed $115, signaling a sharp market sell-off.
- Amid the Gulf conflict, the Strait of Hormuz closure reduced exports, cutting supply to Asian economies and sparking investor anxiety after U.S. President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran last week.
- After an earlier memory-demand driven rally, major chip names reversed hard as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 20.7% and 21.4% respectively since the Iran war, having once eclipsed Alibaba and Tencent.
- U.S. futures held up comparatively, buffered by domestic oil production, with S&P 500 futures down around 1.5% and the S&P 500 off 2.0% over the past week while other Asian markets fell modestly.
- Market strategists called the sell-off a short-term correction, with Goldman Sachs analysts urging investors to view the KOSPI's fall against a 176% rise since April 2025, while BNP Paribas analyst William Bratton noted potential rotation benefits for China.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Asia Intelligence Brief for Monday, March 9, 2026
What Matters Today 1 Nikkei 225 crashes 5.2% to 52,728, entering technical correction — down more than 10% from late-February record; Japan considers tapping national oil reserves as Brent briefly hits $119; yen weakest since January; SoftBank and Advantest plunge 9%+ — Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 5.2% on Monday to close at 52,728.72
The Asian Stock Exchanges have dawned this Monday with falls close to 6%, revealing a great pessimism about how Iran’s war is unfolding. Japanese investors and Koreans are the most affected. So much so that both central banks are considering an intervention with the aim of curbing the bleeding. This also points to major collapses in the rest of the markets throughout the day. Markets see with increasing concern the evolution of events in the Mid…
Oil worries and Iran war hammer Asian stocks, with Korea's KOSPI taking the biggest hit
Asian equity markets continue to bear the brunt of investor anxiety over U.S. President Donald Trump’s launch of large-scale strikes on Iran last week, amid worries of an extended conflict in the Persian Gulf and a sharp shock to energy markets. Market indices plunged on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by around 5.2% on Monday, while South Korea’s KOSPI sank by 6.2%. Vietnam’s VN-Index is down by around 5.7%. Other Asian markets dropped by smal…
As signs of a protracted war between the US, Israel, and Iran emerged, and international oil prices surpassed $119, Asian stock markets, including those in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, suffered significant declines. On the 9th, the KOSPI plunged 5.95%, and Japan's Nikkei plunged 5.2%. Asia, heavily reliant on foreign crude oil, is facing growing fears of a potential "oil shock" like in the past. The Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun rep…
South Korea's main stock index Kospi has activated the "circuit breaker" mechanism for the second time in four sessions - Technology giants under pressure
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