On Monday morning (August 5th), following the global stock market downturn last Friday, the Japanese stock market plummeted by 7%, falling into a bear market. There are reports that Iran will attack Israel as early as Monday, putting pressure on the stock market due to geopolitical tensions.

The Nikkei 225 index continued to decline, with the drop widening to 7% and falling below 34000 points, a historic high set in July and a drop of over 20%, plunging into a technical bear market.

Daily chart of Nikkei 225 index

The Japan Eastern Stock Exchange index fell 20% from its July high, plunging into a technical bear market. The Japan Eastern Stock Exchange index triggered a circuit breaker mechanism when it fell.

The Nikkei 225 Volatility Index in Japan surged 50%, reaching its highest level since April 2020.

The South Korean KOSPI index fell 4% to 2568.70 points.

The Nasdaq 100 index futures fell by 2%.

Recently, gold, which has been in line with the stock market trend, has also experienced a sharp decline. Spot gold fell sharply in the short term, reaching a low of around $2413 and plummeting by over $20 during the day, currently at around $2428 per ounce.

The most active gold futures contract on COMEX was traded in 1118 lots within one minute at 08:17-08:18 Beijing time on August 5th, with a total value of 275 million US dollars.

Spot silver fell more than 1.00% during the day, now trading at $28.21 per ounce.

In terms of crude oil, WTI crude oil fell below $73 per barrel, with a daily decline of 0.80%.

Iran may attack Israel in the next 24 hours

The latest report from Axios News Network on August 4th local time stated that Iran will attack Israel as early as Monday (August 5th).

Axios reported that two US officials said that Michael Kurilla, the commander of the US Central Command responsible for the Middle East region, arrived in the area last Saturday. Currently, Iran is still preparing for possible attacks on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.

A US official said that Kulila's Middle East trip was planned before the recent escalation of tensions between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah, but it is expected that he will use this visit to mobilize international and regional alliances to defend Israel from Iranian attacks, just like in April this year.

According to AXIOS, the United States has informed the Group of Seven (G7) that Iran may attack Israel within the next 24 hours.

Against the backdrop of extreme tension in the Middle East, the United States has announced the deployment of the USS Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group currently in the Gulf of Oman.

US Defense Secretary Austin has ordered the deployment of cruisers and destroyers capable of destroying ballistic missiles to the Middle East and Europe, as well as a new fighter squadron.