Markets recoiled on Thursday as war jitters over Iran deepened, with stocks sliding, oil surging and the dollar firming after US President Donald Trump dashed hopes for clarity on when the Middle East conflict might end.
Trump said in a prime-time address that the US would hit Iran "extremely hard" within weeks, claiming military goals were nearly achieved and the conflict was close to ending.
US stock futures slid 1 percent while European futures sank over 1.5 percent. Asian stocks were clobbered, with Japan's Nikkei down 1.8 percent and South Korea's Kospi index sliding 3.6 percent.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 276 points, or 1.1 percent, to 25,017 points.
The half-day market turnover was HK$116.2 billion.
The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 2.2 percent to 4,829 points at noon.
In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index dipped 0.53 percent to 3,927 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index went down by 1.2 percent to 13,548 points at the midday close.
Reuters
