Stocks tumble as Israel's strike on Iran roils investors

TOKYO: Stocks dived in Asian trade on Friday, led by a selloff in Wall Street futures after Israel conducted a military strike on Iran, sending investors scurrying to safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc.

The escalation in hostilities in the Middle East – a major oil producing region – adds a fresh layer of uncertainty for financial markets at a time of heightened pressure on the global economy from U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive and erratic trade policies.

Market reaction was swift. U.S. S&P E-mini futures slumped 1.7% and Nasdaq futures skidded 1.8%. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures tumbled 1.6%.

Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.3%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 1.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.8%.

“The geopolitical escalation adds another layer of uncertainty to already fragile sentiment,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, adding that crude oil and safe-haven assets will remain on an upward trajectory if tensions continue to intensify.

Global stocks markets had been poised for a fall following an almost unbroken rally since early April that took the MSCI All-Country World index to an all-time high this week, according to Jessica Amir, a strategist at MooMoo.

“There’s room for fat to be taken off the table,” she said.
“It just appears that this is the catalyst that will probably send equities down lower.”

Israel said it was declaring a state of emergency in anticipation of a missile and drone strike by Tehran, after what it called a “preemptive strike” over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iranian state media confirmed on Friday the killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami in the Israeli strike.

An Israeli defence official had earlier said members of Iran’s general staff, including the chief of staff and several senior nuclear scientists were likely killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Israel’s strikes against Iran a “unilateral action” and said Washington was not involved.

Tensions had been building as Trump’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked. U.S. and Iranian officials were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran’s escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, according to officials from both countries and their Omani mediators.

U.S. Treasuries were bought in the rush for safer assets, sending the yield on 10-year notes to a one-month low of 4.31%.

The Swiss franc gained about 0.4% to 0.8072 per U.S. dollar, and fellow safe haven the yen appreciated 0.3% to 143.12 per dollar.

Some traders were also attracted to the dollar as a haven, with the dollar index up 0.5% to 98.131.

The euro eased 0.4% to $1.1538, giving back a little of its 0.9% overnight jump to the highest since October 2021.

Sterling slipped 0.5% to $1.3554, after marking a fresh high since February 2022 at $1.3613 early in the day.

“While we await further news and a potential response from Iran, we are likely to see a further deterioration in risk sentiment as traders cut risk seeking positions ahead of the weekend,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.