SINGAPORE - Asian markets plunged in early trading on June 8 as investors slammed the brakes on the red-hot AI rally, while Iran fired missiles at Israel sending oil prices higher.An 8 per cent drop for South Korea’s chip-heavy Kospi benchmark triggered a 20-minute trading halt and has the index down almost 17 per cent from last week’s record high. Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the biggest losers.Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.5 per cent while Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 1.6 per cent at 9.05am.US Dow Jones futures, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures all dropped 0.2 per cent.The Nasdaq had dropped 4.2 per cent on Friday (June 5), with selling concentrated in semiconductor stocks after a hot jobs report ramped up expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, putting the brakes on what has been a sparkling AI-led rally.“The AI-drives-everything narrative frayed last week,” said Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy at BNY.“Whether this is a healthy pause in the nine-week equity rally or a top remains the key question. The IPO focus on SpaceX and Anthropic is part of the pause – whether to make room for the new market cap or to rethink value.”Weighing on investor sentiment, Brent crude rose 2.6 per cent to US$95.60 a barrel as Middle East tensions flared again with Iran firing missiles at Israel. The gains moderated after reports cited US President Donald Trump as saying the attacks won’t have an impact on efforts to reach a peace deal. The US dollar, the haven of choice since the Middle East conflict began, gained against all of its Group-of-10 peers. in South Korea, the government laid out a series of measures to curb pressure on the won after the currency slid to its weakest level since 2009. reuters, BLOOMBERG