Fire breaks out at the Shahran oil depot after U.S. and Israeli attacks, leaving numerous fuel tankers and vehicles in the area unusable in Tehran, Iran, on March 8, 2026.
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Asia-Pacific markets moderated losses following a rout Monday, after Saudi Arabia reportedly offered crude on the market, easing oil prices.
The kingdom had offered roughly 4.6 million barrels via a pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported.
Oil prices dipped after the news, with Brent futures trading at $107.3 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures at 102.18.
Both benchmarks were nearly at $120 per barrel earlier. The surge comes after major Middle Eastern oil producers, including Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, cut oil production following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
South Korea’s Kospi triggered its second circuit breaker in four sessions on Monday, leading a broader regional sell-off as oil prices neared $120 per barrel for the first time since 2022.
The index plunged over 8%, triggering a 20 minute suspension in trading from 10.31 a.m. local time. The index was last down 6.23%.
Heavyweight Samsung Electronics plunged more than 8%, while chip counterpart SK Hynix shed 10.5%.
A circuit breaker was activated last week when the benchmark tumbled more than 12% Wednesday to record its worst single-day decline.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 5%, falling below the 53,000 mark for the first time Feb. 6, while the Topix was down 3.64%.
Softbank Group Corp was among the largest losers on the index, falling over 10%, while chip-related stocks such as Advantest and Lasertec was also down over 10% and 9%, respectively.
Chinese markets saw smaller losses, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng index falling 1.74%, and the CSI 300 on mainland China down 0.93%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 pared earlier losses to fall 2.85% and closed at 8,599.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, posted on Truth Social that a gain in “short term oil prices” was a “very small price to pay” for destroying Iran’s nuclear threat.
“Only fools would think differently!” Trump added.
U.S. stock futures also tumbled on higher oil prices, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down over 800 points or 1.75% lower.
S&P 500 futures were down 1.59%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slid 1.6%.
— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
