Emerging markets assets slip as Middle East hostilities lift oil; AI-heavy Asian shares slide

Elsewhere, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on Monday launched Africa's largest share sale yet with the initial public offering of his oil refinery, opening up ownership of the plant to retail investors and raising money for its expansion. Markets in India were closed for a holiday. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to slow the rate at which they advance model capabilities amid mounting fears of misuse of artificial intelligence. Both Elon Musk, who runs xAI, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, indicated they agreed with Amodei in posts on X. Taiwan's benchmark index .TWII was down 0.7% while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 fell 3.3%, with Samsung Electronics 005930.KS 4.1% lower and SK Hynix 000660.KS losing 6.4%. Both markets were beneficiaries of increased AI demand and an early 2026 rally that drove the bulk of gains on the broader emerging market index. "Whilst this falls a long way short of calling for a pause in development, it does represent one of the clearest acknowledgements yet from within the industry that there may be limits to how fast capabilities can responsibly advance," Deutsche Bank Research analysts said in a note. "For markets, the key question is whether this is the first sign that the extraordinary AI investment cycle might eventually moderate." China's Shanghai Composite index .SSEC edged 0.1% lower while the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 eased 0.7%. Emerging market assets fell on Monday as hostilities in the Middle East kept oil prices elevated, while AI-heavy Asian stocks were lower after calls from tech leaders to slow the pace of artificial intelligence development. MSCI's emerging-markets stock index .MSCIEF fell 1.2% to a near two-week low. Oil prices rose about 3%, after new strikes on Saudi Arabian energy and civilian infrastructure and Iranian attacks on ships in the Gulf heightened supply concerns. O/R Higher oil prices are stoking inflationary worries, forcing policy makers globally to reassess their policy stances. Markets have priced in a near 90% chance of a U.S. interest-rate hike from the Federal Reserve this week, according to CME's FedWatch tool. MSCI's EM currency index .MIEM00000CUS eased 0.1%, also to a near two-week low, further pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar. The Korean won KRW=KFTC and the Indonesian rupiah IDR= weakened 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Elsewhere in Asia, Turkish stocks .XU100 fell 1.6%, while the lira TRYTOM=D4 inched lower. Most assets in Central and Eastern Europe declined. Hungary's forint EURHUF= fell 0.4% against the euro but remains the best performing currency in the region so far this year. Poland's zloty EURPLN= also weakened 0.4%. Equities in Budapest .BUX slipped 0.3%, while stocks in Warsaw .WIG fell 0.5%.

Emerging markets assets slip as Middle East hostilities lift oil; AI-heavy Asian shares slide

Dangote launches refinery IPO

Asian stocks and currencies weaken

Emerging market assets fall as oil prices rise

Oil, currencies and regional markets move lower

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