Trump’s threat to hit Iran 'extremely hard' jolts Asian stocks, U.S. futures and oil

In this article

U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. will hit Iran “extremely hard” over the next two or three weeks in a national address on Wednesday.

“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” he said. “We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong.”

But the first targets to bear the brunt of the president’s “Epic Fury,” Washington’s name for the Iran operation, were Asian stocks, U.S. Treasuries and oil prices.

Shortly after his 19-minute speech, Asian markets reversed earlier gains from Thursday’s session, as benchmarks in Australia, Japan and South Korea fell. South Korea’s Kospi