00:01Asian markets skid with investors cutting crowded positions in gold and chipmakers.
00:05This amid worries that a wider Middle East war could deliver an energy shock, raising inflation and delaying rate cuts.
00:12Shares in Seoul fell 4%, extending two-day losses to more than 11% as foreign and fast-money investors
00:18pulled out of a market that had soared on memory chipmakers' vast AI-driven profits.
00:23Japan's Nikkei drops 2.5% for a third straight day of losses.
00:27Both South Korea and Japan rely heavily on energy imports.
00:31Benchmark Brent crude oil rose more than 12% this week to $81.40 per barrel.
00:37Damien Bowie, portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney, says,
00:41Oil infrastructures seem to be under attack, so people are having to think about the duration of all of that.
00:46But prices eased after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an insurance guarantee for Gulf shipping
00:51and said the Navy could escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if needed.
00:55Gold fell 4.5% overnight while the Australian dollar slipped 0.8% as traders sold profitable positions to
01:02cover losses in a volatile week.
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