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Asian shares slide as Brent oil tops $100
July 24, 2026
Asian markets fell Friday after Brent crude settled above $100 a barrel, its highest since May, as Middle East fighting threatened the flow of oil and gas.
AP News reports the market picture in full: world shares mixed, Asian markets skidding Friday after Brent crude shot to its highest price since May, with heavy fighting in the Middle East again threatening to slow the global flow of oil and gas. Bloomberg reports Brent set for a weekly jump after topping $100 on supply fears, and The New York Times reports Brent crude above $100 as the conflict with Iran drags on. On the central fact, the three agree.
The detail is thinner. AP News alone carries the numbers: Brent as high as $102 on Thursday before settling at $100.69, up 7 percent, against about $72 before the Iran war began in late February. South Korea's Kospi fell 5.7 percent to 6,690.62, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 10,690.09 in early European trading. AP News also reports Trump threatening what he called major military punishment against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen if they keep attacking ships, a reminder of why the sea route matters to the oil price.
What is settled is the oil spike itself and its cause: three outlets carry Brent above $100 on war-driven supply fear. What is not settled is everything downstream, the index moves and the price path, which so far rest on a single account.
Still developing
The market specifics rest on AP News alone: the Kospi's 5.7 percent fall, the FTSE's early gain and Brent's settlement at $100.69 have yet to be corroborated by another outlet.