In today’s trading session, Asian stocks witnessed massive declines, marked by Japan’s Nikkei 225 plummeting by 3.5% due to substantial selling pressure on semiconductor-related shares and other major players in the market. 

Today’s downtrend started overnight, particularly impacting high-tech stocks in the US. In Tokyo, selling intensified as investors reacted to a report from US media indicating that Israeli missiles had targeted a site in Iran. 

According to ABC News, Israel had launched an attack on Iran, however, CBS News stated that their sources did not provide information regarding the location or scale of the Israeli attacks.

On the other hand, Reuters conveyed a report in which an Iranian official denied any missile attack against Iran. In response to the earlier reports by the Iranian media concerning explosions heard in Isfahan, the official informed Reuters that the sound was caused by the activation of Iran’s air defense systems. 

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 went down below the 37,000 threshold for the first time in over two months, driven by the sale of semiconductor-related stocks with perceived value, marking the largest single-day decline of the year. Key chip-related stocks, such as Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings, and Lasertec all experienced temporary drops of over 7%.

Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, suggests that the current stock market sell-off is driven by speculative traders. He stated that the announcement of the Israeli attack on Iran likely activated a computer algorithm designed to sell stocks and purchase bonds, the yen, and oil through future contracts. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.9% to 16,231.40, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.3% lower to 3,065.26. South Korea’s Kospi also dropped by 1.6% to 2,591.86 while Taiwan’s Taiex is 3.8% lower with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shares tumbling 6.7%

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1% to 7,567.30