Oil Prices Plunge Amid US Plan to Isolate Iran Economy
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as investors braced for details of a US plan to isolate Iran's economy, touted by President Donald Trump as 'the most crushing' financial operation ever.
The Brent benchmark sat at $92 a barrel, down around two percent from the previous day. Asian stocks were mostly down, with South Korea's tech-rich Kospi falling over three percent after Samsung Electronics announced it spent $80 billion to buy back its own shares following weeks of turbulent trading.
Nvidia, the world's most valuable company and a bellwether for the sector, is set to report earnings this week. The chipmaker has seen its stock rise amid optimism for the artificial intelligence boom, but investors are now concerned about the 'heaviest bill' yet to come due from the 'spending machine'. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said Nvidia must show that it can still pay its bills after investing heavily in AI.