The Ukraine-Russia crisis casts a shadow over the global economy

Declines in the local and global financial markets and digital currencies

  • Local financial markets pared their declines at the end of the trading session.

    AFP

  • Global financial markets witnessed a collective decline in all countries.

    Photography: Ahmed Ardeti

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The atmosphere of the Russian war on Ukraine cast a shadow over the global economy in all its sectors yesterday, as oil prices rose to above $ 105 a barrel, recording their highest level since 2014, amid fears of a lack of supplies, especially since Russia secures about a third of Europe’s natural gas needs. whose contracts rose yesterday by 35%.

gold and coins

Gold once again proved that it is a "safe haven" for investors in times of crisis, as it rose by nearly 2%, adding about $40 an ounce.

Gold futures contracts “Comics” for April delivery rose 3.19%, or $61, to the level of $ 1971.40 an ounce, while the yellow metal is expected to continue to rise in the coming days.In turn, palladium futures rose by 6.51% to $ 2599. US and German 10-year government bonds.

On the currency front, the dollar index rose 0.57%, with gains for the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen, while the Russian currency fell to its lowest level in six years by 4% to record 90 rubles against the dollar.

money markets

The global financial markets did not wait for any decisions regarding the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia. Rather, they anticipated any possible repercussions with a “collective drop” in all countries, at a time when the Moscow Stock Exchange suspended all trading, and the main market indices in Asia, Europe and the United States also fell.

Locally, the financial markets pared their declines at the end of yesterday's trading session, after shares witnessed a collective decline at the beginning, which deepened the indices' losses.

The main index of the Dubai Financial Market closed 1.8% down, after it succeeded in reducing the drop of 3% during the trading period, while its counterpart in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ended trading down by 0.3%.

Bitcoin and wheat

For its part, the “Bitcoin” currency fell by 9% to revolve around $ 35,000, dragging with it the majority of digital currencies, led by the “Ethereum” currency, whose price ranged around $ 2000.

As for the prices of wheat and corn, they rose to the maximum allowed in the "Chicago Stock Exchange" during Thursday's trading, as the Russian-Ukrainian events posed a threat to global supplies of food grains.

Russia and Ukraine occupy an important position in the agricultural market in the world, and their wheat exports represent 23% of the world market, while they supply a quarter of the world's grain production.

The vast majority of Ukraine's grain exports are distributed across the Black Sea.

Futures contracts for wheat and corn jumped more than 5%, adding to fears of accelerating global inflation.

• Gold is a safe haven... and oil is at its highest level since 2014.

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