News of Russia starting to send troops to Ukraine has pushed crude oil futures to their highest level since 2014, while the stock market has become volatile following investor sentiment in concern.
Meanwhile, safe-haven trading of the United States (US) dollar declined from a number of other currencies and gold bled with volatile market conditions.
Biden Announcement Causes Bloody Market
US President Joe Biden announced the first sanctions against Russia after he said Moscow had begun attacking Ukraine, adding that more severe action would be taken against Russia if they remained stubborn.
The European Union (EU) has also agreed to impose sanctions on Russia, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shutting down the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia and Britain taking action against Russian banks.
The Dow Jones Industrial average index fell 482.57 points or 1.42% at 33,596.61 while the S&P 500 lost 44.11 points or 1.01% at 4,304.76 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 166.55 points or 1.23% at 13,381.52.
U.S. treasury yields soared after Biden’s announcement with the 10 -year benchmark note down 2/23 in price at 1.9372%.
The dollar index was down 0.047% while the Euro was up 0.14% at $ 1.1326 while the Japanese Yen was down 0.29% against the greenback at 115.06 per dollar and the Pound Sterling was down 0.13% at $ 1.3581.
2 Major Commodities With Different Yields
The escalating crisis reflects concerns that energy exports to Russia could be disrupted with Brent oil futures rising 1.5% at $ 96.84 a barrel after hitting $ 99 for the first time since 2014 and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude hitting 1.4% at $ 92.35 a barrel after reached its highest $ 96 level since August 2014.
Meanwhile, spot gold fell 0.4% at $ 1,898.77 after hitting its highest level since June.
