Stocks tumble, oil jumps amid tech rout, Iran tensions

STORY: Asian stocks plunged on Monday morning as investors hit the brakes on the red-hot AI rally.South Korea’s tech-heavy KOSPI index took the heaviest beating.It was down around 6% by late-morning after volatile trade had earlier triggered a 20-minute halt.Chip giant Samsung matched the overall decline. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei index was down around 4% by the same time.That follows a similar drop for the Nasdaq on Wall Street at the end of last week.One analyst told Reuters that doubts have crept in over tech earnings, partly following weaker-than-expected numbers from US chipmaker Broadcom.Last week’s hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs data have also all but wiped out hopes for further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.Then there’s Iran.Tensions in the Middle East have flared again, following Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel.International benchmark Brent Crude was up around 3% on Monday morning, once again heading towards the $100 per barrel mark.That’s despite weekend action by the OPEC+ oil exporters’ group to reassure markets with a further boost to output.Later this week, all eyes turn to the potentially record breaking SpaceX share listing.Elon Musk’s rocket firm is set to start trading on Friday, and is expected to debut with a valuation of around $1.75 trillion.With so much money going to that, and more possible mega-listings such as OpenAI, some brokers have expressed concern about the impact on other assets.