World stocks retreat as Middle East tensions flare WPXI [Video]

HONG KONG — (AP) — European markets opened lower and Asian stocks tumbled Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping 2.7% on heavy selling of semiconductor-related shares and other market heavyweights.

Tensions in the Middle East were weighing on sentiment, with the future for the S&P 500 down 0.6% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.5%.

Oil prices jumped early Friday after the state-run IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning and there were reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan. But they had given up most of those gains by early morning, European time.

Germany’s DAX lost 1.1% to 17,647.83 and the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.8% to 7,957.40. In London, the FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower, at 7,833.74.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.7% to 37,068.35, paring losses in the early trading when it plunged 3.5%.

Semiconductor equipment supplier Lasertec was …