Global Markets Tumble Amid Iran Tensions, Oil Prices Surge

Global markets experienced a negative sentiment on Tuesday, driven by renewed tensions between the United States and Iran and fears of oil supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. This geopolitical instability caused Brent crude oil prices to jump approximately 2% to around $96 per barrel, intensifying concerns about inflation as bond yields continued to rise.

Asian stock markets saw sharp declines, with technology and semiconductor stocks leading the downturn. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index fell by about 1.5%, Japan's Nikkei lost around 2.6%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped over 3%. Bond markets in the region also faced pressure, with rising yields and a weakening yen against the dollar. In Japan, chip stocks like Advantest and Tokyo Electron were particularly hard-hit, falling about 4%.

Wall Street futures showed stability on Tuesday morning, following three consecutive days of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.8%, the S&P 500 declined 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite weakened by 1% in the previous session. The rising bond yields particularly weighed on technology and growth stocks. In after-hours trading, Dell's stock surged nearly 8% after reporting record results and significantly raising its annual forecast, driven by strong demand for AI servers.

Commodities markets saw oil prices continue their upward trend. Brent crude rose about 1% to approximately $95.50 per barrel, following a 4.6% jump the previous day to a five-week high. WTI crude increased by about 0.9% to around $91 per barrel, after a 5.2% surge on Monday. This rally fuels market fears that oil could approach the $100 per barrel mark again, especially if disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz persist.

In Israel, the stock market closed higher on Monday after the Bank of Israel cut its interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25%. The TA-35 index rose about 0.2%, and the TA-90 index jumped approximately 2.6%. Concurrently, the shekel weakened against the dollar by about 1%, trading around 3.02 shekels. Construction and real estate stocks, sensitive to financing costs, saw significant gains, with the construction index climbing about 5.3% and the real estate index strengthening by 3.3%.