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The Hang Seng Index fell 2.4 per cent to 25,989.11 as of 10.55am local time, on course for the biggest decline since April 7, 2025, when US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement sent the benchmark plunging 13 per cent. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 2.8 per cent.
On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slipped 0.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.1 per cent. Brent crude surged as much as 14 per cent to US$82.37 a barrel, heading for its best day since January 2025, while gold spot rose 1.3 per cent to US$5,346.17 an ounce.
The risk-averse mood adds to the uncertainty on global risk assets, which have already been rattled by fears of displacement by artificial intelligence. The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s shipments of oil and gas flow, was virtually closed after the war broke out on Saturday. The US and Israel fired missiles at targets across Iran, while the Islamic nation retaliated with strikes against Israel and US military bases in the Middle East. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the assault.
“Asia and emerging markets face a dual shock of higher oil prices, which tend to have an inflation and tax effect, and [lead to] a broader pullback in risk appetite,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets.
