On Monday, Asia markets fell due to the escalating geopolitical situation in West Asia. Earlier this week, Iran struck Israel with massive drones and missiles. Now, Israel is expected to retaliate and strike back at Iran in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the attack and said it was ‘aimed at specific targets’. IRGC said that the attack was punishment for ‘Israeli crimes’, naming the operation as ‘True Promise’. Following the attack, US President Joe Biden met with his national security team for an update. Biden said that their ‘commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad’.
The U.S. intervened to directly help Israel shoot down nearly all of the incoming munitions, Biden said in a statement Saturday.
Oil prices fell today morning, Brent crude was trading 0.74% down at $89.87 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were trading 0.85% lower at $84.93.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.01% at 39,125.26, while the broad-based Topix was down 0.52% at 2,745.42.
South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.89% at 2,657.93 and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.24%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 saw a smaller loss compared to other Asian markets and fell 0.42%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.73% lower, flipping the trend China’s CSI300 gained nearly 1.90%.