Chicago – June 13, 2025
Markets in Asia opened lower early Friday while oil prices surged after Israel attacked Iran’s capital amid the ramping up tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
U.S. benchmark crude oil rose by $5.6, or 8.2%, to $73.61 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by $5.52 to $74.88 per barrel.
In share trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 37,721.63 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.7% lower to 2,900.14.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.4% to 23,929.62 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,394.52.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.3% lower to 8,540.80.
“An Israeli attack on Iran poses a top ten of our global risk, 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.
