South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei Tumble More Than 5% as Trump-Iran Threats Escalate
23 March 2026
Today in Brief
Asia-Pacific markets sold off sharply as Trump-Iran threats escalated, sending Kospi and Nikkei tumbling over 5%.
Oil surged, gold extended its selloff, and global uncertainty deepened amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Asia Markets
Story 01
South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei tumble more than 5% as Trump-Iran threats escalate
Asia-Pacific markets sold off sharply on Monday, with major indexes in Japan and South Korea falling more than 5%, as investors fled risk assets amid escalating conflict in the Middle East that has entered its fourth week. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran failed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a vital artery for global energy flows — within 48 hours Iran pushed back, threatening to target energy infrastructure and desalination facilities in the Gulf if the U.S. carries out its ultimatum. Iran's Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Saturday that attacks on the country's power plants would "immediately" be met with retaliatory strikes on energy and oil infrastructure across the region.
U.S. Markets
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Stocks tumble Friday as losses mount from Iran war impact, Dow and Nasdaq near correction
Stocks tumbled in volatile trading Friday as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran showed no sign of abating and oil prices continued their ascent. The Dow Jones Industrial average shed 443.96 points, or 0.96%, ending at 45,577.47. The S&P 500 fell 1.51% and closed at 6,506.48, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.01% and settled at 21,647.61. The small-cap Russell 2000 declined more than 2% and slipped into correction territory — that is, a 10% decline from its latest high. At their lows of the day, the Dow and Nasdaq traded in correction territory, but ultimately closed shy of the 10% threshold. The moves come after Iran and Israel exchanged strikes overnight, while the former also launched new attacks against energy sites in the Persian Gulf region.
Commodities
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Gold fell below $4,400 per ounce on Monday, extending its selloff into a fourth week
Gold fell below $4,400 per ounce on Monday, extending its selloff into a fourth week as the ongoing Middle East conflict intensified inflation fears, while major economies face pressure to boost liquidity, including through gold sales, to offset the war's impact. The Iran war shows little sign of easing, with President Donald Trump threatening strikes on Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, while Tehran warned it would target key US and Israeli assets across the region if its energy facilities were hit. Last week, gold dropped over 10% as surging oil prices fuelled inflation concerns, prompting markets to price in a prolonged pause or potential rate hikes from major central banks.
Energy
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WTI crude futures traded above $99 per barrel on Monday after climbing to as high as $101.5
WTI crude futures traded above $99 per barrel on Monday after climbing to as high as $101.5 earlier in the session, as investors assessed President Donald Trump's ultimatum urging Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump warned he would "obliterate" major Iranian power plants if the waterway is not reopened to shipping by late Monday. In response, Tehran said it would target US and Israeli assets across the region, including energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure, if its own energy facilities were struck. Oil prices have surged roughly 50% since the Iran war began, as the conflict shows no signs of easing, effectively shutting Hormuz and sharply curbing Middle Eastern oil production.
Geopolitics
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Trump issues Strait of Hormuz ultimatum
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday delivered a stark ultimatum to Iran, threatening to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Iran responded by warning it would target U.S. infrastructure in the Gulf, including energy and desalination facilities, if Washington carried out its threat. Iran's speaker of the Parliament also warned that financial entities supporting the U.S. military budget were legitimate targets, and that buyers of U.S. Treasury bonds were purchasing "a strike on your HQ and assets." The latest escalation has raised fears among corporate executives that the conflict will drag on for months, prolonging uncertainty for the global economy.
Defense
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U.K. confirms Iran fired two missiles at British-American base in Indian Ocean
Iran fired two missiles at the joint British-American Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean but they failed to reach their target, a U.K. minister said Sunday, confirming earlier reports of the number of projectiles. "Our assessment is that the Iranians certainly targeted Diego Garcia. As we understand it, one missile fell short, failed. The other was intercepted and prevented," U.K. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told BBC television. Reed declined to say how far short the missiles fell. "There is no specific assessment that the Iranians are targeting the U.K. or even could if they wanted to," Reed added. Iran targeted Diego Garcia with a two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile, Israel's military said Saturday. This refers to missiles with at least two rocket engines, one allowing the missile to reach space, and the other propels it to its target, at a range of up to 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles).
Energy
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Saudi Aramco boss pulls out of major international energy conference due to Iran conflict
Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser has cancelled his planned appearance at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston to remain in Saudi Arabia because of the Iran conflict, an industry source told Reuters. Nasser, who has been CEO of the world's top oil exporter for more than a decade, is usually a headline speaker at the conference, one of the energy industry's biggest events. CERAWeek, organized by S&P Global and beginning on Monday, draws top executives, government officials, and policymakers from around the world to discuss the global energy market outlook. Nasser's withdrawal highlights the scale of the challenge he faces in dealing with the Iran crisis.
Politics
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Trump threatens to deploy ICE agents to airports if DHS shutdown doesn't end, while Elon Musk offers to cover TSA agents' pay
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to send federal immigration agents to U.S. airports unless congressional Democrats immediately agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security. "I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. The Trump administration has faced heavy criticism for aggressive deportation tactics by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents. Trump claimed ICE agents handling airport security would arrest immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, specifically targeting individuals from Somalia. In a separate post later in the day, Trump said he plans to move ICE agents into airports as soon as Monday, telling them to "GET READY."
Corporate
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India Coca Cola bottler SLMG says Middle East war risks pushing up prices
SLMG Beverages, Coca Cola's largest bottler in India, could raise some of its prices if rising packaging costs linked to the war in the Middle East are difficult to absorb, a senior executive at the firm said. The war is pushing up costs for key packaging materials from plastic bottles to caps, labels and cardboard boxes — with some packaged water manufacturers already raising prices. "If the war continues, the packaging material cost may continue to move up," Rahul Kumar, deputy CEO at SLMG said in an interview earlier this month, adding price increases would depend on factors including how competitors respond and how consumers react to higher prices. The cost pressure comes after billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries revived a historic local cola brand, Campa, in 2023, tapping its vast retail network and a nationalist sentiment to ignite a price war.
Technology
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Musk says SpaceX and Tesla to build advanced chip factories in Austin
SpaceX and Tesla will build two advanced chip factories at a sprawling facility in Austin, Texas, one to power cars and humanoid robots, and another designed for artificial intelligence data centers in space, CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday. The comments followed Musk's announcement a day earlier of plans to build "Terafab," an advanced AI chip complex in Austin. "Terafab will technically be two fabs, each making only one chip design," Musk wrote in a post on X. Musk has previously said Tesla would need to build its own AI chip plant, but the involvement of SpaceX had not been disclosed. SpaceX, which is preparing for a public listing that could value the company at around $1.75 trillion, recently merged with Musk's social media and artificial intelligence firm xAI.
Corporate
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Super Micro's Liaw exits board following AI chip smuggling charges
Super Micro Computer said on Friday that Yih-Shyan Liaw has resigned from its board, effective immediately, after the co-founder was arrested by the U.S. Justice Department for helping smuggle billions of dollars of AI chips to China. Shares of the artificial intelligence server maker rose 2% in trading after the bell, after closing the session down over 33%. Liaw's resignation was not the result of a disagreement with the company, Super Micro said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday charged Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsang Chang, and contractor Ting-Wei Sun with running a scheme to route U.S.-made servers through Taiwan to Southeast Asia, where the products were repackaged into unmarked boxes and smuggled into China.
AI Industry
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OpenAI to nearly double workforce to 8,000 by end-2026
Artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. OpenAI plans to deploy most of the new hires across product development, engineering, research and sales, the FT said. The ChatGPT-maker is also ramping up recruitment of specialists focused on "technical ambassadorship," aimed at helping businesses make better use of its tools, the report added. The company's latest funding round valued it at $840 billion, as Big Tech and Masayoshi Son's Softbank joined its blockbuster $110 billion round.
