Most Asian stock markets rose during Monday trading, while South Korea's main KOSPI index fell about 5 percent as investors shed more AI-related stocks.

The Japanese market was closed today due to a public holiday, while U.S. stocks showed mixed performance in futures trading.

In the oil market, prices rose more than 2 percent as benchmark Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel, as the United States and Iran move closer to resuming an all-out war between them. Earlier today, the U.S. announced more strikes for the ninth consecutive night.

Related News

Brent crude rose 2.6 percent to $90.4 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark crude, rose 2.2 percent to $83.6 a barrel.

Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey, commodity market analysts at ING, said in a note on Monday: "The U.S. and Iran continue to exchange strikes, which have proven deadly for both sides... If this escalation continues unchecked, we could return to large-scale attacks."

The analysts noted that tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, through which about a fifth of global energy supplies normally pass, has nearly stopped, adding to supply pressures in the global energy market.

In Asian markets, South Korea's main KOSPI index fell 4.9 percent to 6,491 points, with Samsung Electronics falling 4.4 percent and SK Hynix falling 3.3 percent, two of the largest stocks on the index.

In Taiwan, the main TAIEX index fell less than 0.1 percent, while shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) rose 2 percent, after falling 7.3 percent on Friday following the announcement of its plan to invest $100 billion to increase production capacity in the United States.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 2.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 percent.

In contrast, India's Sensex index fell 0.9 percent.

unmute

AI stock frenzy sweeps Asian countries