The Ukrainian crisis has escalated further as Russian President Vladimir
Putin launched his invasion. This kept investors out of high-risk assets as
European stocks fell along with equities around the world.
Putin said he had authorized special military operations and the Ukrainian
government accused Moscow of launching a full-scale invasion, citing Reuters
on Thursday (24/2).
Along with this, US President Joe Biden will impose severe sanctions on
Russia after the attack. European leaders have said they will freeze assets
and shut Russian banks from their financial markets.
The Russian and Ukrainian markets were in free fall. The ruble fell nearly
7% to an unprecedented 86.98 per US dollar. Russia's MOEX index collapsed as
much as 45% on Thursday, with the market losing more than $250 billion in
market cap.
Russia's central bank then ordered a ban on short selling and
over-the-counter markets until further notice. Then, the pan-Asian index
fell 2.6%, the European STOXX 600 Index trailing down 2.75%. These EU stocks
hit their lowest level since May 2021 and are 10% below January's record
high.
Germany's DAX performance also fell 3.7% because this country is very
dependent on Russian energy supplies. Likewise with great trade relations to
Russia.
The jump in oil prices helped limit losses on the FTSE 100 which is the
benchmark for UK investment. However, this index also decreased by 2.68%.
The S&P 500 e-mini fell 2% and Nasdaq futures fell 2.8%.
"In the past when you had geopolitical turmoil, you tended to have very
volatile periods in the stock market. Then there was normalization, but it's
hard to judge when it will happen," said LGIM portfolio manager Justin
Onuekwusi.
Stock performance in Asia is also compact red. The Nikkei 225 Index fell
1.81%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 3.21%. While the Shanghai Composite
Index fell 1.70%. The Jakarta Composite Stock Price Index (JCI) also
followed the global trend, which was corrected by 1.48%.
