Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Monday as heightened geopolitical tensions between Iran and Israel rattled investor sentiment and triggered broad risk aversion across regional equities.
By 11:15 am AEST (1:15 am GMT), Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 4%, South Korea’s KOSPI 200 was down 7.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 remained closed due to a public holiday.
The downturn followed reports of renewed missile fire in the Middle East, which intensified concerns about the stability of the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
The reported strike came after Iranian Parliamentary Speaker MB Ghalibaf posted on X that the U.S. naval blockade and alleged breaches of agreements relating to Lebanon amounted to violations of the ceasefire.
Investors also digested a mix of economic data from Japan. The second preliminary estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) from the Cabinet Office showed the economy expanded at an annualised 1.8% in the first quarter, revised down from an initial estimate of 2.1% but still above expectations of 1.3%.
Separately, Japan reported a current account surplus of 3.91 trillion yen (US$24.4 billion) in April, supported by strong overseas investment returns and higher export revenues, according to the Finance Ministry.
On Wall Street, major indices closed lower on Friday following a stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls reading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.2%, led by steep losses in technology stocks.
Chinese equities closed lower on Friday. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7% to 4,027.7, while the CSI 300 dropped 1.8% to 4,816.9.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.2% to 24,962.0, and India’s BSE Sensex edged 0.2% lower to 74,243.3.
In commodities, risk sentiment also weakened. ICE Brent crude fell 2% to US$93.09 per barrel, while spot gold declined 3.4% to US$4,323.32 per ounce.
European markets ended mixed on Friday. The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 10,368.1, Germany’s DAX fell 0.8% to 24,759.1, and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.3% to 8,218.2.
