Oil jumps, stocks slide after Israel launches attack on Iran
STORY: Israel's attack on Iran roiled global markets on Friday.
News of the air assaults broke as the trading day began in Asia.
Oil prices immediately started climbing, with international benchmark Brent crude soaring over 10% by late morning.
Traders fear Iran's retaliation could include blocking the flow of oil through the Gulf.
One estimated that Tehran could potentially hinder shipments of up to 20 million barrels per day.
That could mean sustained price increases that add to inflationary pressures worldwide.
And that's unlikely to go down well with U.S. President Donald Trump, coming hours after he threatened to berate Energy Secretary Chris Wright over existing increases:
"But I don't like the oil prices have gone up just a little bit over the last few days. I was going to call and just really start screaming at you. Are we okay? Nothing wrong, right? It's going to keep going down a little bit. Right?'
Traditional safe haven assets including gold and the Japanese yen also gained following news of the attack on Iran.
The precious metal rose over one percent in morning trade.
But stocks headed the other way, with benchmark indexes in Japan and South Korea both losing over 1%.
Big exporters were among the hardest hit in Tokyo trade, with the stronger yen threatening to make their goods more expensive in overseas markets.
Toyota shares fell over 2%, with Mazda down around 3%.
Now analysts say the scale of further market moves will depend on the full details of Israel's attack - and what Iran does next.
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