Geopolitical tension in the Middle East started a long time ago. Nevertheless, tensions increased on January 3rd after the death of Qasem Soleimani as a result of the U.S. drone attack. On January 8, stocks in the Asia Pacific region regained some of their strength.
For instance, Japan’s Nikkei 225 retraced some losses, nevertheless, its index decreased by 1.57% to 23,204.76. At the same time, the Topix index also fell by 1.37% to 1,701.40. Based on the information, the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe canceled a scheduled trip to the Middle East.
South Korea’s Kospi index declined by 1.11% to 2,151.31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 recovered from the previous losses to drop 0.13% to 6,817.60.
The Shanghai composite index declined 1.22% to 3,066.89. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen composite declined by 1.24% to 1,769.58. Another Chinese index, which is the Shenzhen component, dropped 1.13% to 10,706.87.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined by 0.83% to 28,087.92. It is worth mentioning that the Straits Times index fell by 0.24% as Singapore Airlines shares dropped 0.4% as the carrier had to divert flights.
Shares in India also fell as the S&P Sensex declined by 0.44%, and the Nifty 50 fell by 0.54%.
Stocks and attacks on military bases
On Wednesday, stocks in the Asia Pacific retraced some losses. Iran attacked the Iraqi airbase that is used by the American troops. Iran promised to target military installations after the U.S. killed one of the most powerful Iranian general several days ago.
Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against the bases housing American troops in Iraq. As mentioned above, the U.S. carried out the operation to kill Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani last week.
The information about Iran’s attack on bases remains scarce. Based on the information, U.S. service members were not killed in those attacks.
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