Global Stocks Skid on Tech Share Sales 06/08 04:51

   Global shares sank on Monday after Wall Street ended last week with its 
worst day since October, while oil prices jumped more than $4 as fighting 
flared between Israel and Iran.

   TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares sank on Monday after Wall Street ended last week 
with its worst day since October, while oil prices jumped more than $4 as 
fighting flared between Israel and Iran.

   South Korea's Kospi led the global retreat, plunging 8.3% on heavy selling 
of technology shares and extending losses that on Friday gave the S&P 500 its 
biggest single day drop in months.

   The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, while that for the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average lost 0.3%.

   Oil prices surged as Israel launched airstrikes early Monday, targeting 
central and western Iran in response to missile fire. Iranian state television 
reported the sound of explosions being heard in Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran, 
without immediately elaborating.

   American and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative deal last week to 
extend their ceasefire, but the agreement has not been finalized and the latest 
attacks further strain efforts to end the conflict. The U.S. war with Iran has 
essentially blocked crude oil shipments from moving through the Strait of 
Hormuz.

   Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $4.60 to $97.69 a barrel. 
Benchmark U.S. crude surged $4.13 to $94.67 a barrel.

   In early European share trading, France's CAC 40 fell 0.7% to 8,161.42, 
while the German DAX dipped 0.8% to 24,552.77. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 
10,331.24.

   During Asia's day, the Kospi in Seoul slipped 8.3% to 7,484.41 as Samsung 
Electronics, the country's biggest company, dropped 10.2%. SK Hynix declined 
7.7%.

   Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 3.9% to finish at 64,024.60. The 
Japanese government revised the annualized economic growth rate to 1.8% for the 
first quarter this year, down from an earlier estimate of 2.1%.

   Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan's Taiex lost 3.5% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong 
lost 1.3% to 24,642.33. The Shanghai Composite shed 1.7% to 3,959.34.

   Markets were closed in Australia for the King's Birthday, a holiday.

   Friday marked the biggest one-day drop for Wall Street since Oct. 10, when 
the Trump administration threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imported goods 
from China.

   The S&P 500 sank 2.6% after a strong jobs report boosted expectations about 
the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year, further darkening 
sentiment already dimmed by worries over a possible end to the rally in tech 
shares driven by the boom in investment in artificial intelligence.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4%, while the Nasdaq composite 
slumped 4.2%.

   In currency trading early Monday, the U.S. dollar inched down to 160.23 
Japanese yen from 160.25 yen. The euro cost $1.1521, up from $1.1515.