- The sudden escalation of geopolitical crises in the Middle East has triggered severe turbulence in the Asia-Pacific capital markets. The Japanese and South Korean stock markets faced strong selling pressure during trading, prompting a comprehensive shift of safe-haven funds towards defensive assets.
- The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the indefinite closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. military subsequently launched continuous strikes on Syria, causing international crude oil prices to surge significantly and reigniting global hyperinflation expectations.
- Core assets of the global semiconductor supply chain are under pressure across the board. Chip heavyweight stocks are facing concentrated profit-taking due to concerns over a cyclical peak and geopolitical risks, severely dragging down benchmark index performance.
Asia-Pacific Stock Markets Face Liquidity Shock
The Nikkei 225 Index (NKY) closed sharply down by 1,315.00 points, a decline of 1.92%, at 67,242.73 points, with the intraday maximum drop exceeding 1,900 points. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted by 8.95%, falling below the 7,000-point mark to 6,806 points, and the rare circuit breaker mechanism was triggered during trading. The macroeconomic uncertainty caused by geopolitical conflicts led to a massive withdrawal of bullish funds, resulting in a cliff-like decline in cross-market risk appetite.
Semiconductor Heavyweight Sector Leads Decline in Both Markets
Tech giants have become the epicenter of this round of sell-offs, with Samsung Electronics (005930:KS) and SK Hynix (000660:KS) closing down by more than 10% and 15%, respectively. Although SK Hynix previously succeeded in issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADR) in the U.S., it failed to alleviate market concerns about the peak of its memory chip cycle. The high volatility of the semiconductor sector is exacerbating the marginal deterioration of supply and demand relationships across the market.
Surging Energy Prices Reshape Inflation Expectations
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a global core oil transport channel, directly pushed up the pricing of Brent crude and WTI crude futures. Rising commodity prices pose a risk of reevaluation of the pricing of major central banks' interest rate cut paths. Analysts point out that if supply chain disruptions persist, the high input inflation pressure will force global monetary policy to maintain a tightening stance for a longer period.
Cross-Asset Safe-Haven Buying Intensifies
Affected by the stock market liquidity stampede, funds quickly shifted to safe-haven assets. Traditional safe-haven currencies like the yen and the dollar received strong short-term support, and government bond yields collectively fell as safe-haven buying surged. If the Middle East military conflict further escalates, the global stock market valuation center may face overall downward pressure, and bullish positions may face technical liquidation in the short term.
