{
  "id": 1659991,
  "title": "Japan’s Nikkei tumbles as Iran stalemate stokes inflation worries",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/japans-nikkei-tumbles-as-iran-stalemate-stokes-inflation-worries",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-18T03:12:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/japans-nikkei-tumbles-iran-stalemate-stokes-inflation-worries"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Tuesday, August 18, Japan's Nikkei share average ended the day down 2.5% at 67,460.73, following a 5.5% gain over the previous five trading sessions. The broader Topix index also suffered, falling 1.1% to 4,140.22. This downturn was triggered by a stalemate in the Middle East conflict, which led to a surge in oil prices and renewed concerns about bond market risks and inflation. The temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran expired that week, with Washington refusing to extend the deal and Iran announcing a shift to a \"fully offensive\" military stance. Oil prices rose as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor once again came to a halt, and global inflation worries caused bond yields to soar to multi-decade highs, including in Japan. Wataru Akiyama, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities, noted that rising interest rates often expose the relative overvaluation of share prices. \"Underlying concerns regarding persistently high inflation, which is present in both Japan and the US, could act as a drag on the stock market going forward,\" Akiyama said. Growth stocks drew the most attention from selling, with electrical appliance makers suffering the worst declines. Tokyo Electron and Advantest, chip-making and chip-testing equipment manufacturers, dropped 3.7% and 6.2% respectively. Marine transport stocks, on the other hand, performed the best, rallying 3.6% due to expectations of higher freight rates.",
  "summary": "A stalemate in the Middle East conflict drove up oil prices and renewed worries over bond market risks and inflation",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}