Mumbai, March 4 -- Asian stocks slumped on Wednesday as soaring oil and gas prices due to escalating Middle East conflict spooked markets and fueled demand for safe-haven assets.

After U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, Tehran retaliated by striking U.S. embassies and threatening regional economies.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was halted, quadrupling tanker costs and causing global air transport chaos.

Gold prices were up more than 1 percent in Asian trade, recovering some of the losses in the previous session even as the dollar index extended gains for a third day running amid escalating geopolitical tensions and reduced expectations for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices continued to rise, with Bre...