Korean stock market plunges, Iran airport ‘explosion sound’, US official says ‘missile’, Iran ‘no’
Regarding the explosion sound at the Iranian airport on the 19th, when the Korean stock market plummeted, a U.S. official said it was an “Israeli missile attack,” but an Iranian official denied it and said it was “not a missile airstrike.”
The Korean stock market fell by 2.89% and SK Hynix by 5.43% at 11 am on the 19th at 11 am on the 19th following Taiwan Semiconductor's downward forecast announcement the previous day, and fell in the 3% range due to an early market drop and a US broadcast about the launch of an Israeli-Iraq missile. The decline gradually increased.
Iran's Fars news agency reported on the 18th that an explosion was heard at an airport in the central city of Isfahan, but the cause was not immediately clear, and that flights over Iran's Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran were suspended.
The U.S. ABC News reported late on the 18th (Thursday) that an Israeli missile had hit a base in Iran, citing a U.S. official, and Reuters reported that the report could not be immediately confirmed.
Citing an Iranian official, Reuters reported on the 19th that the explosion heard in Isfahan was the result of Iran's air defense system being activated, and that the Iranian official said, "There was no missile attack against Iran."
The airport explosion had a direct impact on global stock markets as several of Iran's nuclear facilities, including Natanz, the centerpiece of Iran's uranium enrichment program, are located in Isfahan Province.
AP reported on the 19th that the IRNA news agency reported that an air defense system was launched at the main air base in Isfahan, where Iran's fleet of American F-14 Tomcats purchased before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 had been stationed for a long time, and the semi-official Fars news agency and Tasnim news agency were also responsible. It reported the sound of an explosion without specifying the name, and Iranian state TV said it acknowledged "loud noise" in the area.
The AP said, “Iran fired its air defense batteries early Friday morning (19th) after explosions could be heard near its main air base near Isfahan, raising fears of a possible Israeli attack following Tehran's unprecedented drone and missile attack.” “It was unclear whether they were under Israeli attack, as no Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility and the Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment,” he said.
Iranian state TV began displaying an on-screen warning that a “loud noise” had occurred near Isfahan that day.
Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran's civil space program, said on the X social media platform that several small "quadcopter" drones were shot down, the Associated Press reported.
“Several small drones were flying over Isfahan, and they were launched,” a reporter for Iranian state TV in Isfahan said on live broadcast.
In Iraq, where many Iran-backed militias are stationed, residents of Baghdad reported hearing explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear, the AP reported.
The AP then reported that an Iranian government official and later Iran's state television broadcaster said the site "may have been targeted by a drone."
Iran's IRNA news agency said the defense line had been shelled from several provinces, but did not elaborate on what caused the battery to catch fire, AP reported.
As Taiwan's TSMC lowered its annual growth rate forecast on the 18th, domestic semiconductor stocks began to decline on the 19th.
On the 18th, TSMC CEO Wayser lowered the overall market growth forecast for next year, excluding memory chips, by 10%, saying, “Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty continues, which may put a burden on consumer sentiment and end-market demand.” .
As TSMC fell, Intel (-1.76%) and Micron (-3.78%) also fell that day, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a semiconductor group, fell 1.66%. ASML, which announced its performance earlier, also reported sales in the first quarter of this year by 27% compared to the same period last year. It was disclosed as a decrease of 5.3 billion euros, and net profit was revealed to be 1.2 billion euros, a plunge of 40.5%.
Asian stock markets plunged on the 19th, with Japan's Nikkei plummeting 3.5% due to massive selling of semiconductor-related stocks and other market heavyweights.
U.S. futures plunged earlier and oil prices surged about $3 amid tensions in the Middle East.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunged 3.51% to 36,742.05 on the 19th.
Semiconductor equipment supplier Lasertec was the biggest faller, down 9.7% in morning trading.
Japan's semiconductor-related stocks, Advantest, soared 5.06% on the afternoon of the 18th after Taiwan's TSMC announced better-than-expected first quarter results.
Other big tech-related stocks fell on the 19th, with Renesas down 7.3%, Tokyo Electron down 7.8%, Sony Group down 3.3%, and Toyota Motor Company down 3.7%.
Japan's headline inflation rate in March slowed to 2.7%, and the core inflation rate, excluding fresh food and energy costs, eased to 2.9%, falling below 3% for the first time since November 2022.
The yen turned from weak against the US dollar to slightly strong, falling from 154.64 yen to 153.80 yen against the US dollar on the 19th.
As of 1:30 p.m. on this day, the Korean stock market was in a downward trend with net selling of 649 billion won by institutions and net selling of 442.4 billion won by foreigners, and net buying of 1.0291 trillion won by individuals led to the KOSPI falling to the 2,550 level and then rebounding.
Korean media consistently reported from beginning to end that day as ‘Confirmation of Israeli attack.’
<Israel launches first attack on mainland Iran... Explosion sounds in areas of military bases and nuclear facilities> (Chosun Ilbo) <“Israeli missiles hit places in Iran”> (KBS) <Israel hits Iran with missiles late at night… “Only 6 days of retaliation for the air raid on the mainland” (Yonhap News) became the standard for reporting by other media outlets.