Stocks stagger and oil rises as traders eye Iran threat, Nvidia results

HONG KONG: Asian stocks fluctuated on Tuesday (Aug 25) while oil edged up as investors assess a US plan for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, while tech firms struggled following another down day on Wall Street and ahead of earnings from chip titan Nvidia.With the war against Tehran now in its sixth month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House was declaring an "economic D-Day" on the Islamic republic and threatened to hit countries that trade with it.The threat comes with talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stalled and neither side showing any sign of backing down - pushing oil prices up for most of August, which has in turn fanned long-term inflation fears and put pressure on bond markets."Around the globe, our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustain