Oil Prices Stay at $100 Highs; Crude Supply Disruptions Ignite Inflation Fears; Japan, South Korea Stocks Under Pressure at Open

TradingKey - Oil prices edged slightly lower in early Asian trading on Friday (March 13) but remained elevated, with WTI crude fluctuating near $95 and Brent crude stabilizing above $100. As energy supply concerns continue to simmer and inflationary pressures rise, Asia-Pacific equity markets underperformed at the open.

Japanese and South Korean stocks opened lower. The Nikkei 225 Index saw its decline widen to as much as 2.1%, while the Topix Index fell as much as 1.4%. Heavyweight SoftBank's shares dropped as much as 5.8% after Jefferies downgraded the stock, citing increased risks from its OpenAI investment. South Korea's KOSPI opened nearly 3% lower, with the decline currently narrowing to 1.17%.

Following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, BMI raised its full-year Brent crude price forecast to $70 per barrel. As energy supply constraints exacerbated market concerns over a global recession, bets on the prediction market Kalshi regarding the probability of a U.S. recession this year reached 32%, the highest level so far this year.