{"id":60826,"date":"2026-04-12T23:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T03:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-shaken-by-hormuz-blockade-and-failed-us-iran-peace-talks\/60826\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T23:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T03:38:29","slug":"global-markets-shaken-by-hormuz-blockade-and-failed-us-iran-peace-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-shaken-by-hormuz-blockade-and-failed-us-iran-peace-talks\/60826\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets Shaken by Hormuz Blockade and Failed US-Iran Peace Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Global markets are retreating<\/strong> following the collapse of <strong>US-Iran peace negotiations<\/strong> in Pakistan and President <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a>\u2019s subsequent order to <strong>blockade the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Korea\u2019s KOSPI (<a href=\"\/stock\/KOSPI\">KOSPI<\/a>)<\/strong> dropped over <strong>1.5%<\/strong> in early trading, led by heavy sell-offs in tech giants like Samsung Electronics (<a href=\"\/stock\/005930.KS\">005930.KS<\/a>) and SK Hynix (<a href=\"\/stock\/000660.KS\">000660.KS<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quebecor Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/QBR.B\">QBR.B<\/a>)<\/strong> received a significant boost as <strong>National Bank of Canada<\/strong> upgraded the stock to <strong>Outperform<\/strong> with a new price target of <strong>C$59<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hong Kong<\/strong> is accelerating its digital pivot, granting its first <strong>stablecoin licenses<\/strong> to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial while breaking ground on a project to expand <strong>AI computing capacity 36-fold<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rafael L\u00f3pez Aliaga<\/strong> has taken an early lead in <strong>Peru\u2019s presidential election<\/strong> with <strong>20.4%<\/strong> of the vote, signaling a potential shift toward conservative leadership.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Geopolitical tensions reached a boiling point over the weekend after high-stakes negotiations between the <strong>United States<\/strong> and <strong>Iran<\/strong> ended without an agreement. Following the failure of the talks in Islamabad, <strong>President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a><\/strong> announced a naval blockade of the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, a move that has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.<\/p>\n<p>The blockade effectively severs a critical artery for roughly <strong>20% of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG)<\/strong>. <em>Analysts warn that Asian economies, which rely on the strait for over 80% of their energy imports, face an unfolding economic crisis.<\/em> <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> prices surged nearly <strong>9%<\/strong> on the news, surpassing <strong>$103 per barrel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In South Korea, the <strong>KOSPI (<a href=\"\/stock\/KOSPI\">KOSPI<\/a>)<\/strong> fell <strong>89.15 points<\/strong> to settle near <strong>5,769.72<\/strong> as investors reacted to the heightened risk of a regional conflict. Major exporters bore the brunt of the decline, with <strong>Samsung Electronics (<a href=\"\/stock\/005930.KS\">005930.KS<\/a>)<\/strong> sliding <strong>2.91%<\/strong> and <strong>Hyundai Motor (<a href=\"\/stock\/005380.KS\">005380.KS<\/a>)<\/strong> dropping <strong>2.15%<\/strong>. Conversely, defense-related stocks like <strong>Hanwha Aerospace (<a href=\"\/stock\/012450.KS\">012450.KS<\/a>)<\/strong> showed resilience, gaining <strong>0.46%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the broader market turmoil, <strong>Quebecor Inc. (<a href=\"\/stock\/QBR.B\">QBR.B<\/a>)<\/strong> stood out following a positive revision from <strong>National Bank of Canada<\/strong>. Analysts raised the company&#39;s rating to <strong>Outperform<\/strong>, citing disciplined operations and market share gains in the wireless sector. The bank increased its price target for the Montreal-based telecom firm to <strong>C$59<\/strong> from <strong>C$57<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In the currency markets, the <strong>EUR\/USD<\/strong> pair managed a slight rebound to near <strong>1.1700<\/strong> as a bullish bias persists despite the geopolitical backdrop. Meanwhile, the <strong>USD\/JPY<\/strong> is eyeing the <strong>160.00<\/strong> level, with traders awaiting further technical confirmation of a bullish breakout. <em>The strength of the US dollar remains a focal point as safe-haven demand increases.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hong Kong<\/strong> continues to position itself as a global leader in both AI and regulated digital assets. The <strong>Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)<\/strong> issued its first stablecoin licenses to <strong>HSBC<\/strong> and <strong>Anchorpoint Financial<\/strong>, a joint venture involving <strong>Standard Chartered<\/strong>. Simultaneously, the city broke ground on the <strong>Sandy Ridge<\/strong> data center project, which aims to boost computing power to <strong>180 ExaFLOPS<\/strong> by 2032\u2014<strong>36 times<\/strong> its current capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, official results from <strong>Peru<\/strong> show <strong>Rafael L\u00f3pez Aliaga<\/strong> leading the presidential race with <strong>20.4%<\/strong> of the vote after 20% of ballots were counted. He is followed by <strong>Keiko Fujimori<\/strong> at <strong>17.1%<\/strong>. <em>The results suggest a highly fragmented electorate, likely leading to a run-off election in June as the country seeks stability after years of political turnover.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Global markets are retreating following the collapse of US-Iran peace negotiations in Pakistan and President Trump\u2019s subsequent order [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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