Morning brief: BoJ holds, Musk backs Nvidia, HDFC bank slides

Thursday’s markets opened under the shadow of a widening Middle East conflict, with Iran’s strikes on regional energy assets pushing oil sharply higher.

The developments added to inflation worries from Tokyo to trading desks worldwide.

At the same time, the AI buildout remains in focus as Elon Musk signals more big Nvidia orders, while in India, HDFC Bank is facing fresh scrutiny after its chairman’s sudden resignation rattled investors.

Iran strikes Qatar's main LNG facility

Oil prices jumped on Thursday after Iran struck energy facilities across the Middle East, deepening fears of wider supply disruptions.

The fresh attacks came after an earlier attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.

By 0400 GMT, Brent crude had climbed 4.3% to $112.04 a barrel after briefly rising more than $5, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 1% to $97.28 a barrel.

QatarEnergy said Iranian missile strikes caused extensive damage at Ras Laffan, Qatar’s main LNG processing hub.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted missiles and a drone aimed at its energy sites.

Analysts said the attacks could keep crude markets tense and Brent well supported in the near term.

BoJ leaves benchmark rates unchanged

Japan's central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 0.75% on Thursday, matching market expectations.

The central bank warned that the Iran war could add fresh upward pressure on inflation through higher oil prices.

The decision was backed by eight of nine board members, showing some disagreement within the policy board.

The Bank of Japan said inflation may temporarily slip below its 2% target, yet rising crude costs linked to the Middle East conflict could keep price pressures elevated.

The call comes as Japan, which imports about 95% of its energy from the Middle East, faces a renewed fuel shock.

Elon Musk doubles down on Nvidia

Elon Musk said SpaceX AI and Tesla will continue buying Nvidia chips at scale.

The remarks underscore how central outside computing power remains even as both companies build more of their own AI hardware.

Tesla is developing its AI5 chip for autonomous driving.

Musk said that the processor can handle data-center training but is mainly designed for edge computing in Optimus and the Robotaxi program.

He also added that a wider rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) update is expected within weeks.

The remarks come days after Musk said Tesla’s Terafab AI chip project would launch in a week.

HDFC Bank stock crashes

HDFC Bank shares fell sharply on Thursday after part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned, citing ethical and governance concerns.

The stock dropped about 8% in India, while the bank’s ADRs also came under pressure after the resignation became public.

Interim chairman Keki Mistry told investors that Chakraborty had not provided the board with any evidence or specifics to support the allegations.

Mistry also denied any internal rift and said management remained united.

Analysts warned the episode could keep pressure on the stock until investors get clearer answers on the governance issues.