European stock markets had one of the worst sessions since March 2020 and the implementation of the lockdowns, losing up to 5% at the worst of the day.

After the close, Frankfurt lost 3.96%, Paris 3.83%, Milan 4.14%, London 3.88% (adjusted figure shortly after the close) and the Eurostoxx 50, benchmark, 3.63 %.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange, the main financial center of Central and Eastern Europe, fell by more than 10% and that of Moscow collapsed by more than 35%.

Wall Street was also shaken: the flagship index, the Dow Jones, fell by 1.62%, the broader S&P 500 index by 0.72%, around 5:00 p.m. GMT.

The tech-stained Nasdaq was apart, taking 0.26%.

The price of a barrel of oil exceeded 100 dollars during the day, both for the American barrel and that of the North Sea, a first since 2014. Aluminum and wheat also broke records.

Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday night, with airstrikes and entry of ground forces from several directions.

Russia claimed to have destroyed 74 military installations.

The control room of Euronext, the company that manages the Paris Stock Exchange ERIC PIERMONT AFP / Archives

The offensive sparked an international outcry to which Moscow remains deaf.

"Global markets did not anticipate a war scenario and are now adjusting to the scale of this military action," Amundi analysts said in a note.

Investors are flocking to safe havens such as gold, which has approached $2,000 an ounce, and government bonds.

The yield on US 10-year debt fell to 1.94%, from 1.99% on Wednesday, with a low of 1.84% at 11:30 GMT.

From now on, for the markets, "the main source of uncertainty is how the Ukrainians and the Western powers will react", describes Johanna Kyrklund, head of investment at the asset manager Schroders.

The fall of world stock markets Sylvie HUSSON AFP

US President Joe Biden will address Americans at 5:30 p.m. GMT to discuss the United States' response.

The European Union says it is preparing a new set of sanctions, the “most severe ever implemented”.

Raw materials are on fire

Russia and Ukraine are essential countries for the supply of oil, gas, wheat and other crucial raw materials.

"Oil and gas supplies are not yet affected by the current escalation," but CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson fears "they will be cut off" in the event of severe Western sanctions.

The price of a barrel of Brent oil from the North Sea soared by 6.56% to 103.19 dollars and that of a barrel of American WTI for delivery in April by 4.76% to 96.47 dollars.

Oil wells in Baku, March 19, 2019 Mladen ANTONOV AFP / Archives

On the side of natural gas, the reference market in Europe exploded by 33% compared to the previous day.

"Soaring energy prices are a big headache for Europe, since 40% of its natural gas and 30% of its oil come from Russia," said a Swissquote analyst.

Mining groups strongly linked to Russia have collapsed in London: Polymetal by almost 40%, Ferrexpo by more than 42%, Evraz by 30% and Petropavlovsk by 27%.

Groups with activities in Russia were particularly affected in the markets.

In Frankfurt, Uniper, linked to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, fell 13.95%.

Defense stocks were the few to escape the slump, such as Thales (+4.87%) in Paris, or BAE Systems (+5.16%) in London or Leonardo (+4.34%) in Milan.

Banks penalized

Banks and the financial sector were targeted by the first sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.

In Moscow, Sberbank fell by 42.49%, VTB Bank by 37.91%.

In Vienna, Raiffeisen sold more than 23%.

In Paris, Societe Generale, present in Russia via Rosbank, lost 12.15%.

In Milan, UniCredit dropped 13.69%, sanctioned for its exposure to Russia.

In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank fell 12.54% and Commerzbank 13.11%.

Fall of the ruble, jump of the dollar

After a historic low of 90 rubles to the dollar, the currency fell 6.58% around 4:50 p.m. GMT, after the intervention of the Russian Central Bank to “stabilize the situation”.

The Russian ruble falls against the euro Jonathan WALTER AFP

The greenback, considered a safe haven, gained 1.49% against the European currency, to 0.8976 euros for one dollar, its highest since June 2020.

Bitcoin fell 3.81% to $36,000.

© 2022 AFP