Share prices on the European stock exchanges fell significantly on Monday due to the Ukraine crisis and the prospect of rising interest rates in America. Shares from the travel and tourism sector, technology stocks and the cryptocurrency Bitcoin flew out of the depots, while safe havens such as Bunds and gold were in demand. The German standard value index Dax fell by more than 4 percent to less than 15,000 points over the course of the day, and the European Euro Stoxx 50 was also significantly weaker. Both indices are heading for their biggest daily losses since the end of November, when the omicron variant of the corona virus unsettled the stock markets.

Wall Street also went down premarket.

"The risk mix of geopolitical tensions, a rising oil price and the prospect of continued high inflation rates and higher interest rates means that investors are currently avoiding shares," said analyst Jochen Stanzl from the online broker CMC Markets.

The volatility indices V-Dax and V-Stoxx, which measure investors' nervousness, rose by up to 21 percent.

Stockbrokers expected that the American Federal Reserve would raise interest rates on Wednesday for March, said investment strategist Jürgen Molnar from the brokerage house RoboMarkets.

“The market is just puzzling over how high this rate hike will be and how many will follow it over the course of the year.” It is also unclear how quickly the Fed will reduce its securities holdings.

Exchange rate losses in Russia

Investors fled Russian equities fearing Western sanctions in response to tensions with neighboring Ukraine.

Moscow's leading index fell by more than eight percent - the biggest slide since the Corona-related stock market crash in March 2020. The Russian currency also came under pressure.

In return, the dollar was quoted at 78.64 rubles, the highest it was more than a year ago.

Despite diplomatic efforts, tensions between Russia and the West continue to escalate.

On Monday, Russia accused the government in Kiev of provoking a military conflict.

The danger of war has never been so great, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow.

The cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum lost up to 15 percent of their value and were quoted at 33,584 and 2220 dollars at the level of half a year ago.

The "anti-crisis currency" gold rose in price by 0.5 percent to $1,843 per troy ounce (31.1 grams).

Bunds were also in demand, with yields on 10-year stocks falling to minus 0.102 percent.

The share price of Siemens Energy collapsed by almost seven percent and marked a record low of 17.805 euros.

On Friday, the titles posted the largest daily loss in the company's history at almost 17 percent due to ongoing problems at their wind power subsidiary Siemens Gamesa.

Investors responded to Philips' numbers with sales.

Shares in the medical technology company fell 4.3 percent in Amsterdam to a two-year low of EUR 28.12.

Sales and operating profit in 2021 were below expectations, commented analyst James Vane-Tempest from the investment bank Jefferies.

Hoping for a breath of fresh air at Unilever, investors bought into the consumer goods manufacturer.

The shares of the “Domestos” provider gained 6.8 percent in London and thus rose more than they have in a year and a half.

According to insiders, activist financial investor Trian has bought into Unilever.