Oil prices surged Monday after Iran and Israel resumed strikes against one another despite a purported ceasefire, while technology stocks slumped following heavy pre-weekend losses on Wall Street.

Brent crude, the international standard, was up $1.12 to $94.21 a barrel at 8 a.m. Eastern after jumping $4.60 a barrel overnight. Benchmark US crude rose $1 to $91.54 a barrel.

Iran moved to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil flows, after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, sending ripples across the global economy and sending energy prices soaring.

In Asia, Seoul’s Kospi index dived more than eight percent to lead a rout across the region after Friday’s strong US jobs data fueled bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, hammering the technology industry.

The chipmaker Samsung dived more than 10%, and its rival SK hynix shed 7.7%.

Wall Street had tumbled on Friday, led by a 4% drop for the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Tokyo’s stock market lost almost 4% on Monday, and Hong Kong closed down 1.2%.

“Rising borrowing costs reduce the present value of future earnings and can also weigh on investment........

© The Times of Israel