Crude Oil Tops $100 a Barrel, Rattling Asian Stock Markets

Oil Price Surge Hits Asian Markets

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, pushed past $100 a barrel this week after Iran and the United States struck tankers in what the Times of India called the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since their six-month conflict began. Brent futures rose 0.1% to $101.34 a barrel by 0107 GMT on Thursday, September 10, 2026, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.5% to $96.55 a barrel, the paper reported.

Asian stock markets fell broadly as a result. South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng all traded lower on Thursday, according to The Hindu. The Times of India reported that MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1%, with the Nikkei and Kospi both falling more than 1%. US markets had also closed in negative territory the previous session, The Hindu noted.

Indian Shares Steady After Sharp Fall

India's BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty traded nearly flat in early Thursday deals, a day after tumbling sharply. The Sensex edged up 38.07 points to 74,809.95, and the Nifty advanced 9.85 points to 23,439.20, both The Hindu and the Times of India reported. On Wednesday, September 9, the Sensex had plunged 813.35 points, or 1.08%, to close at 74,764.23, its lowest level in nearly three months, while the Nifty fell 203.60 points, or 0.86%, to 23,431.50.

The Indian rupee also weakened, slipping 25 paise to 95.33 against the US dollar in early Thursday trade after opening at 95.15, according to the Times of India. It had already dropped 34 paise to close at 95.08 on Wednesday. The Hindu reported that foreign institutional investors sold ₹582.99 crore worth of Indian equities on Wednesday, while the Economic Times said domestic institutional investors bought shares even as foreign portfolio investors sold.

Ponmudi R, chief executive of the trading firm Enrich Money, told The Hindu that elevated crude prices and rising US Treasury yields were likely to keep risk appetite subdued for emerging-market equities, including India. He said uncertainty over how the conflict might end, despite US President Donald Trump's remark that the Iran conflict could end after the midterm elections, was keeping a geopolitical risk premium embedded in energy markets.

Taiwan Index Absent From Reports

None of the available reports mention Taiwan's stock index. Coverage of Thursday's regional selloff names South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng, but does not say how Taiwanese shares performed that day.

It is not yet known what effect the oil price surge and the Middle East tensions had on markets in Taiwan.