Gokhan Ergocun
28 March 2026•Update: 30 March 2026
ISTANBUL
Global stock markets lost trillions of dollars in market capitalization since the start of the US and Israeli war against Iran as investors fled risk assets amid a historic energy shock.
Regional tensions have escalated since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched a joint attack, and Iran began to target energy plants in the Gulf region.
The tensions caused uncertainties to global markets, inflationary concerns and sharp fluctuations in commodities.
Oil prices posted an increase of around 45%, and gold declined around 15%.
The Bloomberg World Exchange Market Capitalization index, including dozens of stock markets from all around the world, fell from $157.5 trillion to $146 trillion during the month, down $11.5 trillion.
The loss in the S&P 500, which represents the majority of companies listed on US markets, has exceeded $5 trillion in March.
Major stock indexes saw strong declines during the month, posting around 10% in decreases.
US markets
The Dow lost 7.77%, or 469.38 points, to close at 45,167.44 as of March 28, down from 48,977.92 on Feb. 27.
The S&P 500 posted a strong decrease of 7.4%, or 114.74 points, to 6,368.85, decreasing from 6,878.88.
The Nasdaq composite declined sharply, 7.6%, or 521.74 points, to 20,948.36, down from 22,668.21.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 9.2% to close at 575.30 on March 28, down from 633.85 on Feb. 27.
The UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.6% to 9,967.35, Germany’s DAX went down 11.8% to 22,300.75, and France’s CAC 40 dropped 10.2% to 7,701.95.
Italy’s FTSE MIB 30 was down 8.1% to finish at 43,379.10, while Spain’s IBEX 35 posted a decline of 8.5% to 16,802.50.
Asian markets
The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, dropped 10.2% to 5,336.12 over the same period.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was down 9.3% to close at 53,373.07 points.
The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong exchange, fell 6.3% to 24,951.88 points.
China's Shanghai Stock Exchange also lost 6% to 3,913.72.
Indian Sensex lost 9.5%, and Kospi from South Korea 12.9%.
