Stock markets have recovered in Asia after days of heavy losses caused by the war in the Middle East, but oil and gas prices have continued to rise amid supply disruptions.
South Korea’s KOSPI, which posted its biggest ever drop of 12% on Tuesday, soared nearly 10% on Thursday, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.9%. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan rose 2.7%.
Oil rose further after Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that a US oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf had been hit by a missile launched by Iranian forces. Brent crude oil rose 3.3% to $84 a barrel.
Gas prices also rose: UK gas rose almost 1%, while European natural gas futures rose 2%.
Qatar, the Gulf’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, suspended activity at its facilities on Monday and declared force majeure on gas exports on Wednesday, freeing it from contractual obligations to its customers. Reuters cited sources as saying returning to normal production volumes could take at least a month.
In the Middle East, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange fell 2.6%, while the Dubai Stock Exchange lost 2.2%. Both exchanges said they would temporarily set a 5% lower price limit for securities.
In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% in early trading but later rose 60 points, or about 0.5%.
Wizz Air, which canceled flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until March 15, warned of a €50m (£43m) hit to its annual profits, also reflecting the impact of higher jet fuel costs.
This means net profits this year will likely be below its previous range of a loss of 25 million euros to a profit of 25 million euros, the Hungarian airline said. Its London-listed shares fell as much as 6% and shares of other airlines also fell.
China’s government has told the country’s largest oil refiners to suspend diesel and gasoline exports amid the disruption in crude supplies, according to Bloomberg. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning body, were reported to have met with refinery executives and called for a temporary suspension of shipments of refined products that would begin immediately.
In South Korea, a ruling party lawmaker warned that the US-Israel war with Iran, now in its sixth day, could disrupt supplies of important semiconductor manufacturing materials.
South Korea’s chip industry, which supplies two-thirds of the world’s memory chips, is also concerned that a prolonged conflict in Iran will lead to higher energy costs and prices, Kim Young-bae said after meeting executives from companies such as Samsung Electronics and trade groups.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said: “The geopolitical context remains as flammable as ever. President Donald Trump continues to project confidence in the military campaign against Iran even as the timing of operations remains unclear. Missiles continue to fly across the region and bombs continue to fall.
“However, the strategic calculus at the negotiating tables has begun to change in subtle but important ways. Intelligence circulating through US command channels suggests that Iran’s conventional military capability is rapidly deteriorating after huge naval losses and sustained airstrikes against missile launch capabilities.”
He also highlighted “solid” economic data for the US, a strong ADP jobs report and a jump in service sector activity, according to a survey.
Another boost for Asian stock markets came from China setting out a five-year roadmap to accelerate scientific advances and incorporate AI into its industrial economic machine.
