South Korea’s stock market in meltdown amid US-Iran war
Al Jazeera
Benchmark index plummets as much as 12.2 percent, eclipsing single-day plunge after 9/11 attacks in 2001.
South Korea’s stock market has suffered one of the steepest falls in history amid the widening fallout of the United States-Israeli war on Iran.
The benchmark KOSPI index plummeted as much as 12.2 percent on Wednesday, eclipsing the 12.02 percent single-day plunge triggered by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and the 9.44 percent drop seen at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.
The index recovered some losses in the afternoon and was down about 10 percent as of 05:00 GMT.
South Korean financial authorities had earlier activated their 20-minute circuit breaker after losses passed the 8 percent threshold for triggering a halt to trading on the exchange.
The plunge followed a 7.2 percent fall in the KOSPI on Tuesday, cementing the worst two-day streak in decades.
Protesters in Venezuela have rallied outside the Iranian Embassy to condemn the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Commentators across political spectrum, including MAGA base, seize on Rubio’s words amid shifting war justifications.
US officials confirmed the US didn’t attack Iran because of an ‘imminent threat’ but because Israel was going to strike.
The US has relocated 15 aircraft, including refuelling tankers, from military bases in southern Spain.
Iran is launching attacks across the Gulf region after the US-Israel operation against the country.
The development comes after an Iranian-made drone crashed into the UK’s military base in Cyprus.
Trump appeared to dismiss Reza Pahlavi as an option and sketched a vision of Iran’s government similar to Venezuela’s.
Primaries will determine party candidates in November race to control the US Congress, giving an early window into voter sentiment.
US Navy ‘will begin escorting’ oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, if necessary, Trump says.
