Oil Prices Soar Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions

Oil prices rose on Monday as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate. The status of efforts to end the conflict remained uncertain, leading to an increase in Brent crude to $84.23 per barrel and US benchmark crude to $78.72 per barrel.

Analysts believe that foreign investors are selling shares in Big Tech companies, such as Nvidia and Broadcom, to lock in profits from recent gains and rebalance holdings into other industries, like defense contractors.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan led advances with a 2.1% gain, while the Kospi in South Korea added 0.7%. However, Samsung Electronics lost 0.4%, and its smaller rival SK Hynix lost 0.1%