Oil prices fall and Asian markets mostly slide after renewed US-Iran hostilities and a heavy wave of US strikes tighten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, sending Brent to $87.18 a barrel and US crude to $83.74.South Korea’s Kospi extends a more-than-16% two-day drop as chip names retreat: Samsung Electronics posts record quarterly operating profit while SK Hynix disappoints and Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom decline after the Federal Reserve holds rates and signals uncertainty.Fed chairman
Kevin Warsh stresses the Fed’s commitment to a 2% inflation goal but provides limited guidance on the path of policy, and US stock indexes fall with the Dow down 2.2%, the S&P 500 down 1.5% and the Nasdaq down 1.7% as yields and the dollar rise.