{"id":60445,"date":"2026-04-01T23:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trumps-stone-age-rhetoric-ignites-oil-spike-asia-pacific-markets-retreat-as-s-korea-pivots-to-u-s-crude\/60445\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T23:38:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:38:30","slug":"trumps-stone-age-rhetoric-ignites-oil-spike-asia-pacific-markets-retreat-as-s-korea-pivots-to-u-s-crude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trumps-stone-age-rhetoric-ignites-oil-spike-asia-pacific-markets-retreat-as-s-korea-pivots-to-u-s-crude\/60445\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s &#8220;Stone Age&#8221; Rhetoric Ignites Oil Spike; Asia-Pacific Markets Retreat as S. Korea Pivots to U.S. Crude"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a>&#39;s hawkish &quot;Operation Epic Fury&quot; update sends Brent crude soaring past $105 per barrel<\/strong> as the President vows to &quot;finish the job&quot; in Iran within weeks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Australian ASX 200 (<a href=\"\/stock\/XJO\">XJO<\/a>) tumbled 1% to 8,589.60<\/strong>, reversing earlier gains as investors reacted to the potential for further military escalation in the Middle East.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Korea has secured 50 million barrels of alternative oil supplies for April<\/strong>, with the U.S. emerging as the primary replacement for Middle Eastern crude blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for urgent talks with regulators<\/strong> to address systemic risks and &quot;fund-level leverage&quot; within the $2 trillion private credit market.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off Indonesia&#39;s Halmahera<\/strong>, triggering localized tsunami waves before warnings were eventually withdrawn by authorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a high-stakes prime-time address, <strong>President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a><\/strong> signaled a sharp escalation in the conflict with Iran, stating the U.S. would hit the regime &quot;extremely hard&quot; over the next two to three weeks to &quot;bring them back to the Stone Ages.&quot; Secretary of State <strong>Marco Rubio<\/strong> reinforced this stance, describing the administration&#39;s strategy as a message to the world that &quot;supporting peace is by force.&quot; The rhetoric immediately rattled global energy markets, sending <em>Brent crude prices up 4.1%<\/em> as the prospect of a swift resolution gave way to fears of a destructive final phase of the war.<\/p>\n<p>Asia-Pacific equity markets responded with a broad sell-off, led by a 1% decline in the <strong>Australian ASX 200 (<a href=\"\/stock\/XJO\">XJO<\/a>)<\/strong>. While energy giants like <strong>Woodside Energy Group Ltd (<a href=\"\/stock\/WDS\">WDS<\/a>)<\/strong> surged 5.1% on the back of rising oil prices, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold-price.aspx\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a> miners such as <strong>Northern Star Resources Ltd (<a href=\"\/stock\/NST\">NST<\/a>)<\/strong> fell 3.2% as the <strong>U.S. Dollar Index<\/strong> strengthened 0.4% to reach <strong>99.96<\/strong>. Regional currencies also felt the pressure, with the <strong>Philippine peso<\/strong> declining 0.7% to trade at <strong>60.578 per dollar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the effective closure of the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, South Korea has moved aggressively to stabilize its energy security by securing <strong>50 million barrels of alternative oil<\/strong> for April. According to <em>Yonhap<\/em>, the largest portion of these replacements is being sourced from the <strong>United States<\/strong>, a share that officials expect to grow as the conflict persists. The South Korean government is also implementing a <strong>crude oil swap system<\/strong> with major refiners, including <strong>SK Innovation (<a href=\"\/stock\/096770\">096770<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>S-Oil (<a href=\"\/stock\/010950\">010950<\/a>)<\/strong>, to bridge the 45-day shipping gap required for long-haul deliveries from the Americas.<\/p>\n<p>On the regulatory front, the <strong>U.S. Treasury<\/strong> has summoned insurance and financial regulators to discuss mounting risks in the <strong>private credit sector<\/strong>. Treasury Secretary <strong>Scott Bessent<\/strong> expressed concern over the &quot;contagion&quot; potential as these non-bank assets move into regulated systems like pension funds. Meanwhile, industrial metals faced headwinds as <strong>three-month tin on the LME<\/strong> declined more than <strong>3.34%<\/strong>, reflecting broader concerns about global manufacturing stability during the geopolitical upheaval.<\/p>\n<p>Geopolitical tensions remained high in the Levant as <strong>sirens and alerts<\/strong> were triggered across Israel\u2019s <strong>Upper and Western Galilee<\/strong> following the detection of drones and rocket launches. Adding to the day&#39;s volatility, a <strong>7.6 magnitude earthquake<\/strong> struck off the coast of <strong>Halmahera, Indonesia<\/strong>. While initial tsunami warnings caused panic and led to at least one reported death in Manado, the <strong>BMKG<\/strong> later withdrew the alerts after observing only minor wave activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Trump&#39;s hawkish &quot;Operation Epic Fury&quot; update sends Brent crude soaring past $105 per barrel as the President vows 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