Australian shares posted their worst week in nearly a year on Friday, as the escalating conflict in the Middle East kept investors on edge, with heavyweight banks and miners weighing heavily on the index.

Investors flocked to cash worth more than A$133 billion ($93.6 billion) from Australian equities this week as the war in the Middle East fueled inflation concerns.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 8,851 points on Friday, ending at its lowest closing point in a month. For the week, the benchmark lost 3.8%, marking its worst weekly performance since late March last year.

“The protracted conflict in the Middle East primarily affects Australian equities and the broader economy through energy prices, logistical costs and inflation expectations,” said Ajay Dutt, managing director of fund manager Dutt Capital.

Dutt maintains a positive outlook on the Australian benchmark, citing the “good health of the underlying economy”.

George Kurian, portfolio manager at Oracle Investment Management, said that “wars of medium severity are always bullish for the market” because they “rarely create long-term economic losses”.

US President Donald Trump on US with Iran And as Israel’s war entered its sixth day, it claimed the right to join Iran in deciding its next leader.

In Australia, financials fell 0.2% on Friday, with the ‘Big Four’ banks losing between 0.1% and 1.1%. The sub-index fell 3.3% for the week to its weakest level since November 10.

Miners fell 8.6% for the week, their worst performance in three and a half years. Tech stocks rose 4.6%, led by WiseTech and Siteminder, which gained 10.8% and 13.1%, respectively.

BHP fell 4.2% on Thursday after Reuters reported, citing sources, that China’s state iron ore buyer had expanded restrictions on buying new seaborne iron ore cargoes from the world’s biggest listed miner.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.7% to 13,519.35 points, down 1.5% week-on-week.

($1 = 1.4215 Australian dollars).