Stocks tumbled across Asia and the price of oil rose on Monday as investors braced for the start of a fourth week of market turmoil caused by the war in the Middle East as a wave of new strikes on Iran knocked out power across large parts of Tehran.
Stocks in Asia sink.
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Stock markets in Asia, where economies are especially vulnerable to the shock of rising energy costs, tumbled on Monday.
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The worst performer was the Kospi index in South Korea, which dropped 6 percent. The Nikkei index in Japan was down 4 percent, and the Taiex in Taiwan fell over 2 percent. Stocks in China and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong also traded lower.
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Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a drop when stocks resume trading in the United States on Monday. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed 1.5 percent lower.
U.S. gasoline prices continued to climb.
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Gas prices rose again on Sunday, with the national average at $3.94 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The increase has raised the cost for drivers almost 32 percent since the war began.
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Diesel prices have increased even more quickly, reaching $5.25 a gallon, up 40 percent since the start of the war, on Sunday.
Oil prices increase.
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The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up slightly to nearly $113 a barrel. Brent settled at $112.19 a barrel on Friday.
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West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was around $99 a barrel. W.T.I. settled at $98.23 on Friday.
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Investors and analysts across the world are focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trading route for oil and natural gas that normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Shipping traffic exiting the Persian Gulf through the strait has been effectively halted because of the risk that vessels could be attacked.
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