Fear of an imminent invasion of Ukraine sends Wall Street crashing

The main stock indices on Wall Street such as the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones ended in sharp decline on Friday February 12.

REUTERS - ANDREW KELLY

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The American declaration on the real possibility of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia had an immediate impact on the New York Stock Exchange, Friday February 11, and in particular on oil.

Investors are anticipating Western sanctions against Russia, which is driving up the price of black gold. 

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The main stock indices on Wall Street such as the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones ended in sharp decline on Friday February 12.

Oil prices soared, the barrel of the North Sea approached 95 dollars while American oil exceeded 93 dollars.

“ Rapid and drastic

 ”

sanctions

Investors fear harsh

Western

.

European leaders have indeed promised “

 ” sanctions against Moscow.

They will first target the energy sector and the financial sectors, while Russia is a major oil exporter and a major gas supplier for Europe.

nervous markets

In addition to the geopolitical tensions, the markets are also nervous because of a more vigorous tightening of monetary policy by the American Federal Reserve (Fed) to counter the acceleration of inflation in the United States.

One of the officials of the American Central Bank has hinted that the increase in key rates could double compared to forecasts.

Result: Friday, the main European stock markets ended the day down.

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• Ukraine

• Russia

• Oil

• United States

• finance