European markets cratered on Monday as the fallout from a dramatic weekend of US and Israeli strikes on Iran rattled investors across the continent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 shed 2% at the open, with the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 close behind at -1.8% — and the selling shows no signs of stopping.
Regional indices from Frankfurt to Paris to Milan are all in the red, spooked by an escalating conflict that has choked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and drawn Hezbollah into the fray on Sunday.
In London, the FTSE 100 is having the more durable response, only falling around 0.3%.
However, Germany's DAX 30 edged down 1% whilst France's CAC 40 dropped more than 1.4%.
Italy’s FTSE MIB fell roughly 1.8%, the Netherlands' NL 25 declined over 1% and Spain's IBEX 35 has seen a sharp drop of more than 2%.
Before European markets opened, Japan's Nikkei 225 was already in free fall and is currently down over 2.3%.
Likewise, US futures opened lower on Sunday with the E-mini S&P 500 dropping over 1.6% and E-mini NASDAQ down more than 2%.
In the UAE, regulators have taken the dramatic step of shutting down both the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market for the next two days.
The Capital Market Authority made no attempt to dress it up and the closures are explicitly designed to prevent panic selling after a staggering 165 ballistic missiles, 541 drones, and 2 cruise missiles rained down on the country over just 48 hours.
Oil and precious metals
While global markets sink into negative territory, crude oil prices rose in early trade on Monday morning as investors continue to weigh the potential impact of escalating tensions in the Middle East on the supply of energy.
The price of a barrel of US benchmark crude initially surged by about 8%. It later traded 5.9% higher at $71.00 per barrel. Brent crude rose 6.2% to $77.38 per barrel.
Gold is up roughly 2.5% while silver climbed 2% and platinum 1.2% as well.
