Japan, South Korea stocks tumble over 6% as oil tops $100 amid broader Asia market rout

NoodlesOrTokens · 2026-03-09T01:23:42+00:00

A fire at the Shahran oil depot in Iran, following U.S. and Israeli attacks, has contributed to a sharp increase in oil prices, triggering major stock market declines in Japan and South Korea.

NoodlesOrTokens

2026-03-09 01:23:42

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Fire breaks out at the Shahran oil depot after U.S. and Israeli attacks, leaving numerous fuel tankers and vehicles in the area unusable in Tehran, Iran, on March 8, 2026.

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Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi both plunged over 6% in early trade Monday, leading a broader regional sell-off as oil prices breached $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 6.05%, falling below the 53,000 mark for the first time since Feb. 6, while the Topix was down 5.27%.

Softbank Group Corp was among the largest loser on the index, falling nearly 10%, while chip-related stocks such as Advantest and Lasertec was also down over 10% and 9%, respectively.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 6.5%, triggering a temporary trading halt for the Kospi 200 futures. A circuit breaker was activated last week when the benchmark tumbled more than 12% Wednesday to record its worst single-day decline.

Heavyweight Samsung Electronics tumbled 8.4%, while chip counterpart SK Hynix saw a larger loss of 9.2%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 3.68% in early trade.

Brent futures spiked 16.1% to $107.61, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose nearly 17.7% to $107.02.

The surge comes after major Middle Eastern oil producers, including Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, cut oil production following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

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U.S. President Donald Trump, however, posted on Truth Social that a gain in “short term oil prices” was a “very small price to pay” for destroying Iran’s nuclear threat.

“Only fools would think differently!” Trump added.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 25,328, below the index’s last close of 25,757.29.

U.S. stock futures also tumbled on higher oil prices, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down over 800 points or 1.75% lower.

S&P 500 futures were down 1.59%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slid 1.6%.

— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.

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