{"id":5601,"date":"2026-03-23T02:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/asian-stock-markets-plunge-amid-trumps-ultimatum-on-iran\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T02:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T02:35:26","slug":"asian-stock-markets-plunge-amid-trumps-ultimatum-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/asian-stock-markets-plunge-amid-trumps-ultimatum-on-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian stock markets plunge amid Trump\u2019s ultimatum on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Key indexes in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong tumble as Iran threatens attacks on energy infrastructure across region.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Stock markets in the Asia Pacific have fallen sharply amid US President Donald Trump\u2019s ultimatum warning Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the annihilation of its energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Japan\u2019s benchmark Nikkei 225 and South Korea\u2019s KOSPI plunged 4 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, in early trading on Monday.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/inside-story\/2026\/3\/22\/whos-left-running-iran\">Who\u2019s left running Iran?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/3\/22\/vinicius-strikes-twice-as-real-madrid-edge-atletico-3-2-in-pulsating-derby\">Vinicius strikes twice as Real Madrid edge Atletico 3-2 in pulsating derby<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/22\/socialist-emmanuel-gregoire-wins-paris-mayoral-race\">Socialist Emmanuel Gregoire wins Paris mayoral race<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/3\/22\/kashmiris-donate-gold-and-cash-to-support-iran\">Kashmiris donate gold and cash to support Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index tumbled about 2 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Australia\u2019s ASX 200 dropped about 1.6 percent, while the NZX 50 in New Zealand dipped about 1.3 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Futures on Wall Street, which are traded outside of regular market hours, saw moderate losses, with those tied to the S&#038;P500 and the Nasdaq Composite down about 0.5 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Oil prices remained volatile amid fears of further disruption to global energy supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Futures for Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose more than 1.5 percent to top $114 a barrel, before easing to about $112 as of 02:00 GMT.<\/p>\n<p>Trump on Saturday threatened to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants within 48 hours if Tehran does not end its effective blockade of the strait, through which about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas exports usually transit.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has pledged to completely close the waterway, which is still being transited by a small number of Chinese, Indian and Pakistani-flagged vessels, and launch retaliatory attacks on energy and water infrastructure across the region if Trump follows through on his threat.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the timing of Trump\u2019s warning on Truth Social, the deadline for his ultimatum is set to expire at 23:44 GMT on Monday.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4426442\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4426442\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26078235316879-1-1774231904.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Philippines\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4426442\">A woman stands beside a sign for prices at a gasoline station in Quezon City, Philippines, on March 19, 2026 [Aaron Favila\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trump\u2019s threat has added to fears of a cascading global energy crisis as the US and Israel\u2019s war on Iran approaches the one-month mark with no clear end in sight.<\/p>\n<p>Oil prices have surged more than 50 percent since the start of the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts have warned that energy prices are likely to rise significantly further if the strait remains effectively closed, with some observers predicting oil to hit $150 or even $200 a barrel.<\/p>\n<p>Trump on Sunday held a phone call with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the effective closure of the strait.<\/p>\n<p>The two leaders agreed that unblocking the strait is \u201cessential to ensure stability in the global energy market\u201d, Starmer\u2019s office said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u00a0has\u00a0provided\u00a0conflicting messages about the goals of the war and how long it might last.<\/p>\n<p>Hours before\u00a0issuing his\u00a0ultimatum\u00a0on Saturday,\u00a0Trump said\u00a0that his administration was\u00a0\u201cvery close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down\u201d\u00a0military\u00a0operations against Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani\u00a0last week told\u00a0reporters that officials had detailed plans\u00a0for at\u00a0least three more weeks of war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key indexes in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong tumble as Iran threatens attacks on energy infrastructure across region. Stock markets in the Asia Pacific have fallen sharply amid US President Donald Trump\u2019s ultimatum warning Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the annihilation of its energy infrastructure. Japan\u2019s benchmark Nikkei 225 and &#8230; <a title=\"Asian stock markets plunge amid Trump\u2019s ultimatum on Iran\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/asian-stock-markets-plunge-amid-trumps-ultimatum-on-iran\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Asian stock markets plunge amid Trump\u2019s ultimatum on Iran\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}