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News Brief: European stocks fell over 2% on Thursday as tensions in the Iran war intensified, with miners experiencing the steepest losses. The market reaction follows significant military strikes impacting energy infrastructure in the region.

LONDON — European stocks slumped on Thursday as the Iran war escalated following attacks on Iranian and Qatari energy infrastructure. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down more than 2% by 10:25 a.m. in London, with all major bourses in negative territory. Miners led losses, with the Stoxx Europe Basic Resources sector down 4.5%, following a sharp sell-off in gold and silver prices. FTSE 100-listed mining giants Antofagasta and Fresnillo dropped 6.6% and 7.4%, respectively. In contrast, Norwegian oil giant Equinor rose 7.4% after reporting strong annual earnings and discovering a large oil field near the Arctic Circle. The conflict escalated when Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, prompting Iranian missile attacks on Qatar’s LNG terminal. U.S. President Trump warned of severe repercussions if Iran continued targeting Qatar. European markets are also awaiting monetary policy decisions from central banks today, with expectations to hold rates steady amid the ongoing conflict. U.S. stock futures dipped overnight following a decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Asia-Pacific markets also tracked Wall Street losses. — نقلاً عن CNBC

Original Source: www.cnbc.com