Asian Stock Markets Decline Amid Energy Turmoil as IEA Releases Emergency Oil Reserves

Asian-Pacific stock markets declined at the opening of trading on Thursday, 12 March 2026, driven by heightened tensions in the Middle East that triggered volatile movements in global crude oil prices.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the Washington government and its allies would release large quantities of emergency crude oil reserves to stabilise energy market fluctuations. The United States will release 172 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help moderate global oil prices and prevent further escalation.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) plans to release 400 million barrels of crude oil in response to supply disruptions caused by the Iran war. This represents the largest action in the organisation’s history, though the IEA has not yet confirmed the timeframe for when these reserves will enter the market.

This action follows US President Donald Trump’s statement that he would utilise the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to suppress global oil prices. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil surged more than 6 per cent to US$92.91 per barrel at 20:07 ET on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 per cent. The Topix index declined 1.34 per cent at the start of the trading session.

In South Korea, the Kospi index weakened 0.75 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index recorded a deeper correction of 1.56 per cent.

On Wall Street, major US indices closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 289.24 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 47,417.27.

The S&P 500 declined 0.08 per cent to 6,775.80. The Nasdaq Composite, dominated by technology stocks, rose 0.08 per cent to 22,716.13.