BENGALURU (March 23): Emerging Asian stocks retreated on Monday, led by South Korea and Taiwan, and currencies remained under strain as escalating hostilities in the Middle East and concerns of a prolonged war kept oil prices over US$110 (RM433.34) per barrel and sapped risk sentiment. A gauge for global emerging-market currencies hit a more than three-month low. In East Asia, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index fell as much as 6.4%, with chipmaker Samsung Electronics and peer SK Hynix losing 4.81% and 6.06%, respectively. Equities in Taipei lost as much as 3.2%, with the Taiwan dollar slipping to 32.125 a dollar, its weakest since late April 2025. Since the start of the Iran conflict, emerging market equities outside China have seen cumulative foreign selling worth US$44 billion, led by Taiwan and South Korea, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

Source: The Edge Markets March 23, 2026 05:24 UTC