European markets opened lower and Asian stocks tumbled on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping 2.7% due to heavy selling of semiconductor-related shares and other market heavyweights. Tensions in the Middle East were weighing on sentiment, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.5%.
Oil prices initially surged after reports of Iran firing air defense batteries near Isfahan, but later gave up most of those gains. In European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 1.1%, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.8%, and London's FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower.
