Asian markets fell broadly on Thursday after President Trump's primetime address late Wednesday vowed to "hit Iran hard and finish the job," reversing a brief rally that had followed his earlier suggestion the war would end in "two to three weeks" [1].

MSCI's Asia Pacific share index dropped 1.5%, erasing gains from what Bloomberg called its worst month in more than 17 years [2]. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell over 800 points at one point, or roughly 1.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.9% to close at 25,056. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 3,928. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6% [3].

The selloff was driven by Trump's shift in tone. On Wednesday morning Asian time, markets had surged on his statement that the US would leave Iran in two to three weeks. By Thursday, the "finish the job" rhetoric and promises of escalated strikes on energy infrastructure pushed oil prices sharply higher and equities lower [4].

Brent crude climbed past $108 per barrel in Asian trading, its highest level since the Hormuz blockade began. U.S. futures were down more than 0.9%.

The pattern has become familiar to regional traders: hope rally, speech, selloff. Asian markets have now experienced at least four such cycles since the war began on February 28. Each bounce is smaller, each decline steeper.

-- David Chen, Beijing