Iran Tensions Heat Up: Shanghai Stock Exchange Closes Stronger at 10-Year High

Shanghai — Recent developments in Iran’s retaliation for attacks by Israel and various United States military bases in the Middle East have impacted global financial markets. Notably, the Shanghai stock exchange closed at its highest level in a decade on Monday (2 March 2026), moving against the regional market weakness that followed the Iran conflict.

Investors rushed to purchase shares in the energy, precious metals and defence sectors. Domestic market sentiment was supported by expectations that Beijing’s government would intervene to stabilise the market ahead of a parliamentary meeting scheduled for this weekend.

As predicted, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong, which is more sensitive to global volatility, fell more than 2% to its lowest level in two months. The United States and Israel launched major strikes against Iran over the weekend that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, heightening geopolitical tensions and increasing global economic uncertainty.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.5% at 4,182.6 points, the highest closing since June 2015. Meanwhile, the leading CSI300 stock index rose 0.4%. Kevin Liu, strategy analyst at CICC Research, stated that the impact of the geopolitical conflict is likely to be temporary in nature.

“This does not change the major trend determined by macroeconomic fundamentals,” Liu said, according to Reuters.