UK Calls Emergency COBRA Meeting as Asian Markets Suffer Worst Day in a Year; Global Stagflation Fears Mount

UK PM Starmer convened an emergency COBRA meeting with the Bank of England governor, finance minister, and energy secretary to address economic fallout from the Iran war. British 10-year gilt yields breached 5% for the first time since 2008, and inflation could reach 5% later this year. London launched a £53M heating oil support package. In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 3.5% (steepest since April 2025), the Nikkei dropped 3.5%, and South Korea's KOSPI plunged 6.5% — the deepest single-session losses across the region in nearly a year. Goldman Sachs warned the economic path depends entirely on Hormuz closure duration. The synchronized selloff across developed and emerging markets signals that the conflict's economic damage is no longer contained to energy importers but is becoming a systemic global growth shock.