Overview
- Brent and WTI briefly traded near $115–120 a barrel, the highest since mid‑2022, after Iran tightened control of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Japan’s Nikkei closed down 5.19% and South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.96%, with broader Asian indices sliding as energy costs jumped.
- Pre‑market pricing pointed to a 3.4% drop for the DAX to about 22,795 at the open, roughly 11% below January’s record after Friday’s 23,591 close.
- JPMorgan’s Bruce Kasman warned that oil sustained above $120 could cut first‑half global growth by 0.6 percentage points and add about one point to inflation, raising recession risk.
- German market specialists urged long‑term investors not to panic‑sell and to maintain diversified ETFs as gold attracts safe‑haven flows and crypto shows brief weakness, with some strategists seeing a total DAX pullback of about 5–7% if the conflict stays regional.