Crude oil prices rose to their highest levels in months on Wednesday while Asian petrochemical shares plunged after Iran’s attacks on US forces in Iraq with ballistic missiles.
Iranian state TV said that the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had confirmed that they launched the missiles to retaliate for the US killing of top Iranian General Soleimani.
Shares of petrochemical companies in Asia slumped, tracking the plunge in regional bourses, following news of the attacks in which 13 rockets hit the Al Asad Airbase, which hosts US forces in western Iraq.
Major slump was seen in all the major stock exchanges across the world. In Japan, Asahi Kasei was down 3.39% and Mitsui Chemicals fell 3.11% as the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was down 2.30%. In Hong Kong, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical was down by 1.27%, tracking the 0.74% drop in the key Hang Seng Index. In South Korea, LG Chem and SK Innovation slumped by 2.25% and 5.54% respectively, with the Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI Index down 1.16%.
