菲律宾燃油补贴政策更新：中东局势下的农业与渔业税收支持

stock markets Oil shock fear hits Asian tech stocks while European selloff pauses Mar 4, 2026 6:35 PM PHT Reuters SUMMARY This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. KOSPI. Currency dealers talk in front of an electronic board displaying the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the exchange rate between the US Dollar and South Korean Won and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at the dealing room of a bank in Seoul, South Korea, March 4, 2026. Kim Hong-JI/Reuters INFO In South Korea, the KOSPI benchmark closes down 12%, its largest drop on record. Investors there are dumping chipmakers on fears of an oil price shock due to the widening Middle East war, raising inflation and delaying interest rate cuts. Selling in hard-hit European shares paused on Wednesday, March 4, as the focus shifted to Asia — including a record-breaking crash in Seoul, where investors dumped chipmakers on fears the widening Middle East war will create an oil price shock, raising inflation and delaying interest rate cuts. Traders’ rush to unload different asset classes around the world has at times threatened to become chaotic this week as they process the consequences of energy prices remaining elevated for an extended period of time. Plunges in one part of the market have spilled over into others as investors try to cover for losses elsewhere and cut down on risks. Even safe-haven gold for example fell more than 4% on Tuesday, though it was back up 1.5% on Wednesday at $5,155 an ounce. At the heart of it all, benchmark Brent crude was at $83.76 a barrel on Wednesday, up for a third straight day, though off its Tuesday highs, after US President Donald Trump said the US Navy could escort tankers through the key Strait of Hormuz if necessary. Ship owners and analysts were uncertain how practical that would be. Seoul sells off The strain on Wednesday was felt most strongly in South Korea, where the KOSPI benchmark closed down 12%, its largest drop on record. South Korea is heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil. Over two days the tech-heavy index has lost more than 18% of its value while the currency KRW= has slumped to a 17-year low. Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.6% and Taiwan stocks dropped 4.3% as investors raced out of what has been one of the hottest bets of the last few months in semiconductor makers. “Many of the places people had been diversifying into prior to the Iran attacks suddenly now appear most vulnerable,” Matt King, founder of financial market research firm Satori Insights, wrote in a note. “The ‘sell-what-you-can’ phase is spreading,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore. “Asia’s selloff is turning disorderly because markets are no longer treating this as a ‘one-week headline shock.” But in a sign markets can still surprise in both directions, Europe’s broad STOXX 600 rose 0.6% on Wednesday, albeit after falling 4.6% on Monday and Tuesday, its biggest two-day fall since April 2025’s tariff turmoil. Helping Europe, benchmark gas prices also steadied on Wednesday, though they are roughly 75% higher than Friday’s close. Spanish stocks and bonds lagged somewhat after Trump threatened to impose a trade embargo on the country. Wall Street meanwhile has dodged the worst of the selling, and the S&P 500 is down just under 1% so far this week. Futures were last down 0.3%. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a speech in Sydney that he’d been surprised at markets’ “benign” reaction up to now to the building risks. “I think it’s gonna take a couple of weeks for markets to really digest the implications of what has happened both in the short term and medium term, and I can’t speculate as to how that would play out,” he said. Rate cuts in question Bond markets, after an initial rally, are now under pressure as investors bet higher oil prices will stoke inflation and delay rate cuts. Traders now see the Federal Reserve as more likely than not to hold rates in June. “For the United States, this is very clearly inflationary… so the market’s reassessing whether the Fed can actually deliver any rate cuts at all this year,” said Andrew Lilley, chief rates strategist for Australian investment bank Barrenjoey. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up 3 bps on the day at 4.08%, having gained 12 bps this week, while rate-sensitive two-year yields are 15 bps higher on the week and last at 3.51%. Elsewhere, a rate cut by the Bank of England later this month that had been seen as all but certain now looks off the table, sending the two-year gilt yield up 25 basis points this week. That has left cash as the beneficiary, with flows rushing into money-market funds from riskier bets. The euro was pinned at $1.16, steady on the day but down 1.5% this week, hammered by higher energy costs. The dollar has gained more broadly even on currencies seen as safe havens, and is up 1.4% on the Japanese yen this week and 0.7% on the Swiss franc. – Rappler.com Summarize this article with AI Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied How does this make you feel? Loading Related Topics Iran-Israel conflict oil industry US-Iran relations Iran-Israel conflict Middle East Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is alive and favored to succeed him, Iranian sources say Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied Philippine News DA readies fuel subsidy for farmers, fishers amid Middle East tensions Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied Middle East Netanyahu says US-Israel war on Iran ‘not going to take years’ Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied US & Canada Trump seeks to justify Iran war, but stated objectives shift Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied More on Iran-Israel conflict oil industry Middle East Investors brace for bigger backlash from Middle East war Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied World US shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier, official says Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied Latin America Trump announces plan to sell Venezuelan oil as US signals it is in talks with Caracas Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied US & Canada Trump administration sets meetings with oil companies over Venezuela, source says Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied More on oil industry US-Iran relations Middle East Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is alive and favored to succeed him, Iranian sources say Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied US & Canada Trump seeks to justify Iran war, but stated objectives shift Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied Middle East Iran conflict widens to Lebanon, Kuwait mistakenly downs US jets Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied Middle East Fire at US embassy complex in Riyadh after blast heard, sources say Share in Chat Share article Facebook X (Twitter) Copy Link Copied More on US-Iran relations