Global Markets Slip On Iran Attacks Despite Trump Indicating End Of War

Global equity indices again slipped on Thursday despite United States President Donald Trump’s comments of ending the war whenever he wanted to.

However, Thursday’s market cuts were not as deep as the market had seen in the previous few days of the Iran war. Investors remained cautious amid diverging comments from the warring sides.

Dow Jones and S&P 500 of the United States ended marginally lower on Wednesday with losses of 0.61 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively, while Nasdaq closed higher by 0.08 percent.

But Iran’s attacks on oil tankers off the Iraqi coast, which claimed the life of one Indian national as well, sent the futures and Asian markets to trade in red.

Dow Futures and S&P Futures were 1 percent and 0.87 percent lower, according to Bloomberg TV as of 1:30 ET March 12.

Asian markets followed cues with Japan’s Nikkei falling over 750 points or 1.4 percent while South Korean Kospi shedding about 1 percent.

Amid fears of inflation due to increased energy prices, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also declined over 1.2 percent.

The bearish rally was also reflected in Indian equities. Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty were trading over 580 points and 190 points lower with a loss of about 0.8 percent each.

While Trump again indicated at ending the war with “nothing left” to target in Iran. However, Iran has intensified its attacks to disrupt oil trade from the region with the latest attacks on oil tankers off the coast of Iraq. One of the tankers attacked was owned by a US company.

This has shot oil prices again up to $100 per barrel during Thursday’s trade despite the International Energy Agency agreeing to release about 400 million barrels of oil to stabilise energy markets.

This is the largest release of oil reserves by the France-headquartered agency since its formation in the 1970s after the Gulf oil crises.