Stocks plunged and oil prices surged by more than $5 per barrel Thursday after President Vladimir Putin launched military action in Ukraine, prompting Washington and Europe to vow sanctions on Moscow that may roil the global economy.
Market benchmarks in Europe and Asia fell by as much as 4% as traders tried to figure out how large Putin's incursion would be and the scale of Western retaliation. Wall Street futures retreated by an unusually wide daily margin of 2.5%.
Brent crude oil briefly jumped above $100 per barrel in London for the first time since 2014 on unease about possible disruption of supplies from Russia, the No. 3 producer. Benchmark U.S. crude briefly surpassed $98 per barrel. Prices of wheat and corn also jumped.
The ruble sank 7.5% against the dollar.
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More Russia-Ukraine Crisis Coverage
Financial markets are in a “flight to safety and may have to price in slower growth" due to high energy costs, Chris Turner and Francesco Pesole of ING said in a report.
In Brussels, the president of the European Commission said Thursday the 27-nation European Union planned “massive and targeted sanctions” on Russia.
“We will hold President Putin accountable,” Ursula von der Leyen said.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London fell 2.5% to 7,311.69 as Europe awakened to news of explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the major city of Kharkiv and other areas. The DAX in Frankfurt plunged 4% to 14,047.18 and the CAC in Paris lost 3.6% to 6,537.32
The futures for Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off 2%.
That was on top of Wednesday's 1.8% slide for the S&P 500 to an eight-month low after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine had asked for military assistance. Moscow had sent soldiers to some rebel-held areas after recognizing them as independent.
Putin said Russia had to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine, a claim Washington had predicted he would make to justify an invasion.
President Joe Biden denounced the attack as “unprovoked and unjustified" and said Moscow would be held accountable, which many took to mean Washington and its allies would impose additional sanctions. Putin accused them of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and to offer Moscow security guarantees.
Washington, Britain, Japan and the EU earlier imposed sanctions on Russian banks, officials and business leaders. Additional options include barring Russia from the global system for bank transactions.
Prices of benchmark U.S. and international oils hovered near $100 per barrel.
This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
