Global markets shudder on Ukraine fears

LONDON: Global stocks sank Monday, as fears of a conflict between Ukraine and Russia sent investors fleeing to safe-haven assets like gold and the yen, while oil prices soared.
In afternoon deals, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 1.53 per cent to 6,705.85 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 2.01 per cent to 4,319.30 points.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 plunged more than 3.0 percent at one stage but later stood at 9,411.37 points, down 2.90 per cent from Friday’s closing level.
Russian stocks plummeted, with the MICEX market closing down 10.79 percent and the other main equities index the RTS slumping 12.01 per cent, and the ruble struck historic lows against both the dollar and euro, forcing the central bank to spring an interest rate hike.
The Swiss franc hit a 14-month high of 1.2104 francs to the euro, while the dollar sank to 101.37 yen as investors turned to the Japanese unit.
The yield on 10-year German government bonds, another safe haven asset, fell to 1.569 percent from 1.624 percent on Friday.
The European single currency meanwhile eased to $1.3776 from $1.3800 in New York late on Friday.
Asian equities mostly fell on Monday, with Hong Kong tumbling 1.47 percent, Tokyo down 1.27 per cent and Sydney shedding 0.38 per cent.
US markets also opened lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.79 per cent to 16,192.59 points after five minutes of trading.
The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.71 per cent to 1,846.29 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1.01 percent to 4,264.78.
Russia’s central bank meanwhile hiked its main interest rate to 7.0 percent from 5.50 percent in a clear bid to support the plunging ruble and stem an already alarming capital flight amid the soaring tensions.
With Russia also a huge supplier of oil to European nations, the price of both main crude contracts also spiked.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for April delivery, climbed $1.94 to $104.53, and Brent North Sea crude for April rallied $2.77 to $111.84 in midday London deals.
On the upside in Asia, Chinese shares finished 0.92 percent higher on hopes for positive policies at the annual meeting of the country’s legislature, which begins Wednesday.