Trump’s speech pours cold water on expectations: Oil futures jump 5%, won weakens to 1,520 per dollar

According to Financial News, South Korea’s financial markets swung sharply after President of the United States Donald John Trump’s speech. Stocks abruptly reversed lower, while oil prices and the exchange rate surged.
As of 10:50 a.m. on the 2nd, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 3.49% from the previous day at 5,287.71.
Semiconductor shares in particular fell across the board. Samsung Electronics was trading at 181,100 won, down 8,500 won (4.48%) from the previous session. It had climbed to as high as 193,600 won earlier in the session, coming close to breaking the 200,000-won mark, but turned weak after Trump’s speech.
SK hynix also could not escape the downturn. After rising to 914,000 won early in the session, SK hynix fell 37,000 won (-4.14%) from the previous day to 856,000 won.

The won–dollar exchange rate jumped to the 1,520-won level.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won–dollar rate opened at 1,512.2 won, up 10.9 won from the previous day’s closing level at 3:30 p.m. It then traded at 1,520.3 won at around 10:40 a.m., just after the speech.
International oil prices, which had been falling before Trump’s address, also rebounded sharply by about 5%.
As of the 1st (local time) on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 4.1%, trading at 104.21 dollars per barrel. Brent Crude Oil futures jumped 5% to 106.42 dollars per barrel, breaking above 106 dollars.
In the speech, where markets had hoped for a declaration ending the war, Trump instead warned, “Over the next two to three weeks, we will strike Iran hard and send it back to the Stone Age. We will complete the operation swiftly.”
U.S. stock index futures also turned lower. Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.8%, and S&P 500 futures were down 0.65%.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter