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BANGKOK — <\/span>Japan\u2019s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 7% early Monday and other Asian markets also tumbled after oil prices soared to about $114 a barrel due to disruptions from the war in the Middle East, casting a shadow over economies heavily dependent on imported crude and gas from the region. <\/p>\n The Nikkei was down just over 7% at 51,694.16 shortly after trading began. South Korea’s Kospi sank 7.4% to 5,162.83 and shares in Australia and New Zealand fell more than 3%. <\/p>\n Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 3.1% and the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.7%. <\/p>\n The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 2%. <\/p>\n The price for a barrel of Brent crude, was trading at $114.11 a barrel and U.S. benchmark crude jumped to $114.00 a barrel. Both were more than 20% above their closing prices Friday. <\/p>\n Crude prices are at their highest level since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Supply concerns have driven crude and gasoline higher as the war ensnares major oil-producing countries and hinders exports from the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market woke up to the sound every macro trader dreads. The oil alarm bell. And this time it was not a polite chime. It was a fire siren,\u201d Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.<\/p>\n Surging oil and gas prices, if they persist, could cascade through the global economy, further complicating matters for countries still adjusting to higher tariffs on exports to the United States under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Senior officials of Southeast Asian countries were meeting this week in Manila, the Philippines, to discuss ways to counter the shock from higher energy costs. <\/p>\n The increases followed the U.S. crude price jumping by 36% and Brent crude rising by 28% last week. Oil prices have surged<\/a> as the war, now in its second week, ensnared countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. <\/p>\n If oil prices stay above $100 per barrel, some analysts and investors say it could cause serious damage to the global economy.<\/p>\n