Oil Prices Rise and Most Asian Shares Fall After US Launches Fresh Strikes on Iran

Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent on Wednesday after the United States launched new military strikes on Iran. The attacks raised tensions near the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway used to ship oil around the world. Most stock markets in Asia fell in response to the news, while China's markets went up.

The US military said it launched the strikes after Iran attacked three ships in the strait. Iran's government did not officially claim responsibility for those ship attacks. US strikes hit locations on Qeshm Island and the cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, according to Iranian state media.

Iran fought back by targeting American military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, blamed the US for breaking a peace deal the two countries signed last month. He said the US had threatened Iran, blocked its oil sales, and broken other parts of the agreement.

Ghalibaf posted a strong message on social media platform X. "The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don't fold," he wrote. His words showed how angry Iran's leaders were about the new US strikes.

Because of the renewed fighting, the price of oil climbed sharply. Brent crude, the main global oil price, rose 2.6 percent to $76.09 per barrel. The US oil price also gained 2.6 percent, reaching $72.25 per barrel. Both prices had been falling for weeks before Wednesday's jump.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.3 percent, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.9 percent. Big tech companies in South Korea took the hardest hits. Samsung fell 2.9 percent after dropping about 7 percent the day before, while SK Hynix rose 2.4 percent.

China's stock markets moved in the opposite direction from most of Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.4 percent and Shanghai's main index gained 0.5 percent. Chinese tech giants led the rally, with Alibaba jumping 8.1 percent, Baidu rising 4.7 percent, and Tencent gaining 3.1 percent. Investors seem focused on China's push to build its own artificial intelligence technology.

Back in the United States, stocks fell on Tuesday as AI-related shares slid lower. The S&P 500 dropped 0.4 percent to 7,503.85, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.2 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also slipped 0.2 percent from its record high to close at 52,925.15.

Many investors are worried that AI stocks have gotten too expensive too fast. They fear that the huge amounts of money being spent on computer chips and data centers may not pay off with enough profits. Chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices fell 6.5 percent, Intel dropped 9.7 percent, and Micron Technology lost 4.7 percent.

SpaceX, which owns the AI company xAI, fell 6.8 percent on its first day of trading in the Nasdaq 100 index. Electric vehicle maker Rivian dropped 18.1 percent after it announced plans to sell 75 million new shares of stock. Selling more shares reduces the value of shares that earlier investors already owned. Australia and India also saw their stock markets slip about 0.7 percent each.