Investors on the financial markets reacted to the worsening of the situation in Ukraine on Friday by selling shares and fleeing to so-called “safe havens”.
Asian retailers have already reacted with discounts.
The leading German index, the Dax, fell significantly and at times was only listed at 13,178 points – in January it was still at more than 16,000 points.
Bank stocks such as Deutsche Bank, which were at times down more than 6 percent, were hit particularly hard.
Among the winners were energy suppliers such as RWE, which at times gained more than 3 percent, and armaments stocks such as Rheinmetall, which led the M-Dax with a plus of almost 3 percent.
The euro exchange rate fell below $1.10, its lowest level since May 2020.
Christian Siedenbiedel
Editor in Business.
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Markus Fruehauf
Editor in Business.
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Andreas Mihm
Business correspondent for Austria, Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey based in Vienna.
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Gold in euros reached a new all-time high of EUR 1,787.89 per troy ounce (31.1 grams).
In dollars, the price was approaching the $2000 mark.
The price of oil, which hit $120 a barrel (159 liters) for the first time in a long time on Thursday, but then fell again, rose again to $114 on Friday.
However, it remained below the long-term highs.