Oil prices leap and stocks fall amid US-Iran strikes over Hormuz

Brent crude jumps nearly 5% and Asian markets drop, with chipmakers including SK Hynix among hardest hit Business live – latest updates Oil prices jumped and stocks fell after the US launched a fresh wave of attacks against Iran amid an escalating standoff over the strait or Hormuz. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose 4.7% to $79.59 a barrel. Asian stock markets dropped sharply, with South Korea’s Kospi down 8% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 and China’s Shanghai Composite 2%