World stock markets continued to fall today as the military conflict in the Middle East showed no signs of easing.
European stocks clocked their biggest one-day decline in three months on Monday, swept up in a global sell-off in risk assets as the US-Israeli war against Iran expanded with no end in sight.
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed down 1.7%, at its lowest level in more than two weeks, after closing at a record high on Friday.
London's FTSE index had dropped 1.6% this afternoon, while the Paris CAC lost 2.3% and the Frankfurt DAX was down 2.7%.
Dublin's ISEQ index also closed lower, sinking 1.95% with shares in Ryanair down over 1.5%.
Wall Street's main indexes were lower as investors braced for a prolonged Middle East conflict that threatened to disrupt global trade routes and reignite inflationary pressures.
Sectors that were hit the most included airlines, as a number of carriers halted flights, while several oil and gas facilities in the Middle East stopped production, which pushed crude prices up over 8%.
That painted an overall cloudy outlook for the global economy and also weighed on financial stocks.
US airline shares fell when markets opened on Monday, with American Airlines and United Airlines down more than 6%.
The S&P 500 was down 1% with big banks such as Bank of America and Citigroup trading lower.
Investors instead flocked to traditional safe havens such as the dollar. Higher precious metals prices helped miners such as Kinross Gold and Harmony Gold add 1% each.
Defense stocks also got a boost, with Lockheed Martin and RTX gaining over 3% each, while Kratos rose 9% and AeroVironment was up 19%.
Energy majors Shell, BP, and Total Energies all gained, following oil prices, which surged as much as 13% after shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by retaliatory Iranian attacks.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo's Nikkei index closed 1.3% lower as investors saw no clear end to US and Israeli military strikes following the killing of Iran's leader, while ong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 2.1%.
