The Nikkei 225 Index plunged about 5% to below 50,600 on Monday, falling to its lowest level this year as escalating tensions in the Middle East and surging oil prices continued to weigh on global equities. The Iran war entered its fifth week with no end in sight, with Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen joining the conflict and the US deploying additional troops to the region. Japan is reeling from the resulting energy shock and is set to begin releasing oil from emergency reserves to mitigate its impact. Markets also contended with a sharply weakening yen and rising Japanese government bond yields, fueling speculation that the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates as soon as next month. Additionally, Monday is the ex-dividend date for many companies with fiscal years ending March and September. Tech stocks led the selloff, with sharp losses from Kioxia Holdings (-4.1%), SoftBank Group (-8.5%), Advantest (-7.1%), Lasertec (-3%) and Disco Corp (-3.8%).
