Asian stocks today: Nikkei falls over 1,400 points, Kospi plunges 4%; markets continue to fall amid Middle East tensions

Market Reactions - Asian stocks experienced significant declines, with Hong Kong's HSI down 0.29% to 25,985, South Korea's Kospi plunging 4.88% to 5,939, and Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 2.4% or 1,427 points to 56,629 [4]. - Airline stocks on Wall Street were heavily impacted by rising fuel costs and regional travel disruptions, with ANA shares down 2.4%, Japan Airlines down 5.2%, Korean Air down 8.9%, and Qantas Airways down 2.9% [3][4]. Energy Sector - Oil prices continued to rise amid concerns over supply disruptions, with benchmark US crude increasing by $0.77 to $72.00 per barrel and Brent crude rising by $1.10 to $78.84 per barrel [4]. - Japanese energy shares faced significant losses, with Eneos Corp. falling nearly 6% and Idemitsu Kosan down almost 4% [4]. Defence and Technology Stocks - Defence stocks retreated after recent gains, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries down 5% and IHI down 4% [4]. - Defence contractors saw gains, with Northrop Grumman up 5.9%, RTX up 4.7%, and Palantir Technologies up 5.8% [3][4]. - Nvidia led gains in the technology sector with a 2.9% increase [3][4]. Financial Markets - The S&P 500 ended nearly unchanged at 6,881.62, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 48,904.78, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4% to 22,748.86 [3][4]. - The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.04% from 3.97%, supported by stronger-than-expected US manufacturing data [3][4]. Currency Movements - The US dollar slipped to 157.32 yen from 157.47 yen, while the euro inched up to $1.1693 from $1.1690 [3][4].