{"id":79071,"date":"2026-03-23T16:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T05:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/?p=79071"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T06:41:29","slug":"monday-23th-march-2026-asia-pacific-markets-slide-as-middle-east-tensions-trigger-global-risk-sell-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/monday-23th-march-2026-asia-pacific-markets-slide-as-middle-east-tensions-trigger-global-risk-sell-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday 23th March 2026: Asia-Pacific Markets Slide as Middle East Tensions Trigger Global Risk Sell-Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Global Markets:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u00a0Asian Stock Markets : Nikkei down 4.06%, Shanghai Composite down 2.50% Hang Seng down 3.45% ASX down 0.87%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commodities : Gold at $4,386.76 (-4.83%) Silver at $65.358 (-6.17%), Brent Oil at $108.04 (1.53%), WTI Oil at $99.22 (1.02%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rates : US 10-year yield at 4.416, UK 10-year yield at 4.9960, Germany 10-year yield at 3.0381<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News &amp; Data:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(CAD) Core Retail Sales m\/m\u00a0 0.8%\u00a0 to 1.2%\u00a0 expected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(CAD) Retail Sales m\/m\u00a0 1.1%\u00a0 to 1.4%\u00a0 expected<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Markets Update:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Asia-Pacific markets fell sharply on Monday, with major indexes in Japan and South Korea dropping more than 5% as investors moved away from risk assets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, now entering its fourth week.&nbsp; Growing uncertainty over energy supply routes and geopolitical risks weighed heavily on regional sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Iran\u2019s power plants could be \u201cobliterated\u201d if Tehran failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. The strategic waterway is critical for global energy transportation.&nbsp; In response, Iran threatened retaliation against energy infrastructure and desalination facilities across the Gulf if the ultimatum is enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iran\u2019s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also warned that attacks on Iran\u2019s power facilities would trigger immediate strikes on regional oil and energy assets. He further cautioned that financial institutions purchasing U.S. Treasurys could become potential targets if they support U.S. military funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil markets reacted with volatility. Brent crude rose 0.65% to $112.68 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 0.8% to $99.&nbsp; Goldman Sachs raised its short-term oil forecasts, expecting Brent to average $110 in March\u2013April amid prolonged disruption risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 fell nearly 5%, South Korea\u2019s Kospi dropped over 6%, and Australia\u2019s ASX 200 declined 2.4%, reflecting widespread investor caution across the region.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Upcoming Events:<br \/><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>02:00 PM GMT &#8211; USD Construction Spending m\/m<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global Markets: News &amp; Data: Markets Update: &nbsp; Asia-Pacific markets fell [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":79441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,215,339],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundamental-analysis","category-market-analysis","category-recent-posts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79072,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79071\/revisions\/79072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}