Asian equities plunged on Monday, tracking sharp losses in Wall Street futures, as chaotic selling in precious metals unsettled global markets at the start of a week packed with corporate earnings, central bank meetings, and key economic data. The Asian markets sell-off reflected growing investor anxiety as volatility surged across commodities, equities, and currencies.

Selling pressure intensified early in the session, with risk appetite eroding amid margin calls, policy uncertainty, and heightened sensitivity to earnings outlooks.

Silver Collapse Sparks Margin Call Fears

Precious metals were at the center of market turmoil. Silver prices fell another 10% intraday, extending Friday’s staggering 30% plunge, as leveraged positions were aggressively unwound in what traders described as an overcrowded trade.

Dealers said pressure on the UBS SDIC silver futures fund in China accelerated the decline, forcing investors to liquidate profitable positions in other assets to meet margin requirements. Adding to the stress, CME Group raised margin requirements on several futures contracts, including gold and silver, amplifying forced selling.

The disorderly move in metals sent shockwaves through regional markets, intensifying the broader Asian markets sell-off.

Oil Slides on Iran Diplomacy Signals

Oil prices also came under heavy pressure, dropping more than 4%, after Donald Trump said over the weekend that Iran was “seriously talking” with Washington. The comments raised hopes of easing geopolitical tensions and reduced the perceived risk of a U.S. military strike on Iran.

Lower oil prices weighed on energy stocks across Asia, reinforcing downside momentum in equity benchmarks already struggling with commodity-driven volatility.

Asian Equities Post Sharp Losses

The stock markets in the area all fell sharply. The KOSPI in South Korea fell 5.5%, its biggest one-day drop since the tariff-driven market chaos of last April. The index had been one of the best in Asia before, so the change was especially surprising.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, which tracks the most shares in the region outside of Japan, fell 2.8%. The CSI300 index, which tracks China’s biggest companies, fell 1.0% because gold-related stocks lost a lot of value. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 1.0%. It briefly found support from political optimism before continuing to fall.

The breadth of losses underscored the intensity of the Asian markets sell-off, with few sectors spared.

Japan Politics Offer Brief Support

Japanese stocks only got a short-term boost after a poll showed that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Liberal Democratic Party were likely to win the lower house election next week.

If this happens, it will probably make politics less uncertain and make it easier to pass aggressive stimulus measures. But people were worried about the pressure on government bonds and the yen because they thought that spending would go up because of more debt. This was especially true since Takaichi had talked about how a weaker currency would help exporters.

Earnings Season Adds to Global Jitters

Asian Markets Sell-Off are also bracing for a heavy week of corporate earnings. In Europe, around 30% of Euro STOXX market capitalization is due to report results. EUROSTOXX 50 and DAX futures both fell 1.1%, while FTSE futures dipped 0.5%.

U.S. futures stayed under pressure, with S&P 500 futures down 1.2% and Nasdaq futures down 1.6%. About 25% of S&P 500 companies will report this week. Earnings growth is currently at 11% year-on-year, which is much higher than earlier estimates.

Investors are mostly interested in big tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, and Advanced Micro Devices, especially when it comes to AI-related spending after Microsoft’s poor results.

Dollar Steadies as Yen Weakens

The U.S. dollar stayed steady in currency markets, while the yen fell 0.1% to 155.00 and the euro rose 0.2% to $1.1868, making up some of Friday’s losses. The dollar had risen earlier after Trump chose former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to be the next Fed chair, with analysts seeing him as less likely to make aggressive rate cuts than some other candidates.

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