Hang Seng Index, Kospi, Nikkei 225
19 November 2025, China, Shanghai: Boats sail past downtown Shanghai on the Huangpu River. The tallest building on the skyline is the Shanghai Tower (rear).
Bernd von Jutrczenka | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
South Korea’s Kospi plunged 8% Wednesday, on track for its worst day since August 2024, and extending a steep selloff from the previous session amid an escalating war in the Middle East.
The Korea Exchange said Wednesday that a sidecar trading curb was triggered on the benchmark Kospi index. A circuit breaker has also been activated on the Kosdaq, which also fell by over 8%.
Investors in the region will also be watching an annual parliamentary meeting by China’s policymakers that kicks off later in the day.
The gathering, dubbed the “Two Sessions,” consists of a consultative congress that will start later in the day, and a National People’s Congress due to open Thursday. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is set to announce a series of economic targets at the NPC, which had largely been decided at a December meeting.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.81%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 3.89%, while the Topix declined more than 4%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost almost 2%, while the mainland CSI 300 was down 1%.
China’s factory activity faltered in February as manufacturers paused production and cargo shipments to celebrate an extended holiday, an official survey showed on Wednesday.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49 in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, missing economists’ forecast for 49.1.
Oil prices extended gains with U.S. crude futures up 0.87% to $75.21, while Brent was up 5.43% at $81.96 per barrel amid a widening conflict, with Iran attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices year-to-date
A senior commander from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Monday that the critical artery had been shut and warned that any vessel attempting to transit the waterway would be targeted, according to Iranian media.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. Navy will escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, if necessary.
“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” he said in a Truth Social post. “The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH — More actions to come.”
Prices of precious metals rose. Spot gold advanced 1.85% to $5,180 per ounce, while spot silver jumped over 3% to $85.1 per ounce.
Overnight in the U.S., socks had another wild session as concerns around a prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict rattled markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 403.51 points, or 0.83%, and ended at 48,501.27. The S&P 500 slipped 0.94% to close at 6,816.63, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.02% to settle at 22,516.69. At their lows of the day, the S&P 500 lost 2.5%, and the Nasdaq was down about 2.7%. The 30-stock Dow was down more than 1,200 points, or around 2.6%, at its nadir.
—CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
