European indexes took a hit on Friday, following a dip in Asian markets, on news that Israel had attacked Iran's capital. The strikes came amid the ramping up of tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Oil prices, on the other hand, soared — linked to concerns that the conflict could restrict supply.
US benchmark crude oil had risen 5.3% to around $71.7 per barrel as of 9.30 CEST. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by 5.15% to $72.93 per barrel.
In share trading, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.37% to 5.287,11, while the broader STOXX 600 fell 0.95% 544,64.
Germany's DAX dropped 1.3% to 23.463,56 and Italy's FTSE MIB slipped 1.53% to 39,315.48. Spain's IBEX 35 fell 1.56% to 13,869.00 and France's CAC 40 dropped 1.03% to 7,682.33.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.89% to 37,834.25 at close, while the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.87% lower to 2,894.62.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.91% to 23.817,36 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.75% to 3,377.00.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.21% lower to 8.547,40.
An Israeli attack on Iran is in "our top ten of global risks”, but “Asian markets are expected to recover quickly as they have relatively limited exposure to the conflict and growing ties to unaffected Saudi Arabia and the UAE”, said Xu Tiachen of The Economist Intelligence.
Following the strikes on Iran, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.38%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.46%% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 1.29% by around 3.45am ET.
On Thursday, US stock indexes had ticked higher following another encouraging update on inflation across the country.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,045.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 42,967.62, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 19,662.48.
Oracle pushed upward on the market after jumping 13.3%. The tech giant delivered stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Safra Catz said it expects revenue growth “will be dramatically higher” in its upcoming fiscal year.
That helped offset a 4.8% loss for Boeing after Air India said a London-bound flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday with 242 passengers and crew onboard. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area near the airport five minutes after taking off.
Stocks broadly got some help from easing Treasury yields in the bond market following the latest update on inflation. Thursday’s update said inflation at the wholesale level wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected.
Wall Street took it as a signal that the Federal Reserve will have more leeway to cut interest rates later this year in order to give the economy a boost.
The Fed’s next meeting on interest rates is scheduled for next week, but the nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that officials won’t cut.
