Stock market jitters remain amid tech fears and renewed Middle East attacks

US stock markets recovered some of Friday's sharp losses on Monday, but other markets have fallen amid a sell-off in technology shares.

In Asia, South Korea's stock market was forced to halt trading for 20 minutes, with its Kospi index shedding nearly 9% within minutes of opening.

It eventually closed 8.3% lower, with Japan's Nikkei index falling 3.9% and European markets also trading lower - though suffering much smaller falls than those seen in Asia.

But in the US, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose 1.2%, the S&P 500 opened 0.7% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

All had suffered steep drops on Friday following a strong US jobs report, which raised the prospect of interest rates staying high, or even climbing further this year.

On Monday, markets were also rattled by a rise in oil prices, fuelling concerns of inflation, after Iran and Israel exchanged strikes for the first time since a ceasefire was agreed between the sides and the US in April.

Traders are nervously watching a "messy mix" of several shocks to the market mainly tied to the tech sector and accelerated by rising energy prices, said chief investment strategist Charu Chanana from Saxo.

Tech stocks have seen a strong run in recent weeks, but investors are "repositioning" over fears the investments into artificial intelligence may be overvalued, she said.

Markets like the Kospi and Nikkei are particularly exposed to such shocks given their exchanges are dominated by tech stocks.

The Kospi's halt on Monday was part of a circuit breaker mechanism designed to prevent panic trading and was triggered for the third time this year following the plunge in tech stocks.

Wall Street's sharp drop on Friday saw the sell-off in tech stocks wipe about 4% off the Nasdaq - its biggest drop in more than a year.

Part of the decline on Friday followed fears of a hike in US interest rates, due to a lower-than-expected US unemployment rate in April as well as persistently high inflation linked to the war in the Middle East.

Most European markets were lower on Monday, although the UK's FTSE 100 reversed early loses to trade slightly higher.

Earlier, major South Korean tech companies had fallen sharply, including those of chipmakers Samsung, which closed down 10%, and SK Hynix.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said the stock market was expected to experience volatility but he believed domestic shares were still "slightly undervalued".

Overall, the tech-heavy Kospi has seen huge gains in recent months due to a wave of investment in the country's tech companies.

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