China and Hong Kong stocks head for worst day in nearly a year as Iran war rattles markets
Stocks in China and Hong Kong are on track for their worst day in nearly a year as the escalating Iran war fans stagflation fears and roils global financial markets.
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 2.5 per cent at lunchtime, heading for its biggest one-day drop since April 2025, while the blue-chip CSI300 lost 2.4 per cent to a four-month low. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 3.5 per cent.
Investors dumped stocks in tech, travel and agriculture on fears of soaring energy costs and weaker demand. Coal, oil and electric vehicle makers were the only sectors to attract inflows, as investors bet on growing energy security concerns.
Goldman Sachs warned that the impact on China hinged on “both the demand and supply situation outside of China,” adding that the path of oil prices depended on “how long the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, which is highly uncertain.” Economists warned the war could spark “bad inflation” in China, squeezing already thin corporate profit margins and putting pressure on jobs and wages.
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 07:20
US embassy in Jerusalem offering chartered buses out of Israel
Beginning on Monday, the US embassy in Jerusalem is offering chartered buses out of Israel, the Guardian is reporting.
The buses to Amman, Jordan, will be offered to US citizens looking to leave Israel.
”Departures are currently available from the Jerusalem area and the Tel Aviv area,” the embassy said. “Travelers are responsible for booking their onward travel, including flights from the Amman airport.”
Andrea Cavallier23 March 2026 07:00
Photos: Iranian missiles seen over Israel as both sides exchange fresh barrages
Rocket trails are seen over the Israeli coastal city of Netanya during a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks in the early hours.
Earlier, Israel also launched a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in Tehran.
Rocket trails are seen in the sky amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya (AFP via Getty Images)
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 06:30
Watch: US releases video said to show strikes on Iran’s drone capabilitiesUS releases video said to show strikes on Iran’s drone capabilities
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 06:10
Iran narrows retaliation threat to power plants, walking back desalination warnings
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said they will target Israel’s power plants and those supplying US military bases if Iran’s electricity infrastructure is attacked — appearing to walk back earlier threats to strike Gulf desalination plants.
“If you hit electricity, we hit electricity,” the Guards said in a statement today. “We are determined to respond to any threat at the same level as it creates in terms of deterrence.”
The statement accused US president Donald Trump of misrepresenting Iran’s intentions, saying Mr Trump had “claimed that the Revolutionary Guards intends to attack the water desalination plants and cause hardship to the people of the countries in the region.”
Mr Trump set a Monday evening deadline on Saturday, warning the US would strike Iranian power plants if Tehran failed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 05:50
US commander says Iran campaign ‘ahead or on plan’ as Israel launches fresh strikes on Tehran
The top commander of US Central Command has said the military campaign against Iran is “ahead or on plan,” as Israel launched what it called a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran this morning.
US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, speaking to Farsi-language network Iran International, said Iran’s rate of fire had slowed significantly since the war began. “At the beginning of the conflict, you saw large volumes in the dozens of drones and missiles. You no longer see that. It’s all one or two at a time,” he said, describing Iran as acting “in a sign of desperation.”
Kuwait and the UAE said their air defences were dealing with Iranian missile and drone attacks early on Monday, while air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones in the Eastern Province. An Indian national in Abu Dhabi was injured by shrapnel after a ballistic missile was intercepted near Al Dhafra Air Base.
The war’s death toll has risen to more than 1,500 in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military members. Millions have been displaced in Lebanon and Iran.
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 05:40
IEA discussing further oil stock releases as crisis worse than 1970s shocks, chief says
The International Energy Agency is consulting governments in Asia and Europe on releasing more stockpiled oil “if necessary,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said this morning, as he began a world tour starting in Australia.
“If it is necessary, of course, we will do it. We look at the conditions, we will analyse, assess the markets and discuss with our member countries,” Mr Birol told Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra.
IEA member nations agreed on 11 March to release a record 400 million barrels — 20 per cent of overall stocks. Mr Birol said there would be no specific price trigger for a further release, cautioning that stockpile drawdowns were not a solution in themselves.
“A stock release will help to comfort the markets, but this is not the solution. It will only help to reduce the pain in the economy.”
The war on Iran had removed 11 million barrels a day from global supply — more than the two 1970s oil shocks combined.
“The single most important solution to this problem is opening the Hormuz Strait,” he said.
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 05:15
Maritime data shows Strait traffic ‘near collapse’
Maritime intelligence firm Windward AI reported Sunday that Strait of Hormuz traffic was “near collapse,” with only “16 AIS-visible crossings recorded over the past seven days,” Fox News reported.
Transit is controlled increasingly stringently, with vessels rerouting via Iran’s territorial waters, the firm said. Gulf energy exports continue to decline, with crude and LPG flows at recent lows, the firm added.
Andrea Cavallier23 March 2026 04:40
Israel launches wave of strikes on Tehran as explosions heard across Iranian capital
The Israeli military just said it has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in Tehran, as Iran’s state-run Mizan News Agency reports explosions across several parts of the capital.
An airstrike flattened residential buildings in Urmia in northwest Iran, with rescuers searching for survivors under the rubble, state-affiliated Nour News reported.
At least one person was killed in a separate strike on a radio station in the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, semi-official Mehr News Agency said.
The strikes come as US president Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz — or face US strikes on its power plants — approaches its evening deadline today. Iran had warned it would target energy and water infrastructure across the Gulf, including desalination plants, if its power grid was attacked.
Stuti Mishra23 March 2026 04:20
Trump claims ‘death of Iran’ on Truth Social
In a post on Truth Social Sunday, Donald Trump claimed the “death of Iran” while taking aim at the Democrats.
From his Florida golf retreat, he wrote: “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The president claimed victory over Tehran on Friday as the war enters its fourth week, with strikes continuing. Despite this, there has been no regime change and Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz with a significant knock-on effect to global trade.
Andrea Cavallier23 March 2026 04:00