Nikkei 225 · March 9, 2026
The day oil jumped a quarter in one session
-5.20%
single-day change vs previous close
What happened that day?
- The Nikkei fell 5.2% on the day
- Crude jumped more than a quarter from the previous session, as Iran widened its retaliation across the Gulf and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz largely seized up
- Japan buys essentially all of the crude and liquefied natural gas it uses, much of it through that strait. When oil jumps, the whole country's cost base rises
- Circuit breakers fired in Korea's market the same day. Two countries were hit together, for the same reason
- Across this stretch, which began with the US and Israeli strike on Iran in late February, the Nikkei lost more than an eighth in the month — its worst month since June 2022
- Crude reached its highest level in three years and eight months during this period
Sources
Every figure on this page is recomputed from the original daily closing prices and checked against them at build time. The account of what happened is written from the sources listed above.