ISTANBUL
Global stock markets lost trillions of dollars in market capitalization since the start of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran as investors fled risk assets amid a historic energy shock.
Regional tensions have escalated since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack, and Iran began to target energy plants in the Gulf region.
The tensions caused uncertainties to global markets, inflationary concerns and sharp fluctuations in commodities.
Oil prices posted an increase of around 45 percent, and gold declined around 15 percent.
The Bloomberg World Exchange Market Capitalization index, including dozens of stock markets from all around the world, fell from $157.5 trillion to $146 trillion during the month, down $11.5 trillion.
The loss in the S&P 500, which represents the majority of companies listed on U.S. markets, has exceeded $5 trillion in March.
The Dow lost 7.77 percent to close at 45,167.44 as of March 28, down from 48,977.92 on Feb. 27.
The S&P 500 posted a strong decrease of 7.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite declined sharply 7.6 percent percent.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 9.2 percent to close at 575.30 on March 28, down from 633.85 on Feb. 27.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.6 percent, Germany’s DAX went down 11.8 percent and France’s CAC 40 dropped 10.2 percent..
The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, dropped 10.2 percent to over the same period, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 9.3 percent.
The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong exchange, fell 6.3 percent and China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange also lost 6 percent.
Indian Sensex lost 9.5 percent, and Kospi from South Korea 12.9 percent.
