On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the flagship Nikkei index, which fell to its lowest closing level in 15 months on Thursday, rose 1.29% to 26,306.79 points around 00:55 GMT and the broader Topix index resumed 0, 55% to 1,867.72 points.

Stock markets in mainland China opened higher on Friday after falling the previous day.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange took 0.45% to 3,445.34 points and that of Shenzhen 0.85% to 2,301.92 points.

In Hong Kong, in early trading, the Hang Seng composite index was stable, gaining 6.54 points to 22,908.1 points.

Wall Street went rubber band and ended higher.

The Dow Jones ended up 0.28%, the Nasdaq index, heavily influenced by technology stocks, gained 3.34%, and the broader S&P 500 index gained 1.50%.

In Europe, stock markets experienced one of the worst sessions on Thursday since March 2020 and the implementation of confinements, 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%.

The price of a barrel of oil exceeded 100 dollars during the day on Thursday, 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 at dawn on Thursday, with airstrikes and the entry of ground forces from several directions.

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.

The United States has announced a new set of sanctions, which targets in particular the first two Russian banks and the most important companies in the country.

The fall of world stock markets Sylvie HUSSON AFP

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 from the North Sea for delivery in April, the benchmark for black gold in Europe, which soared 8.78% to 105.34 dollars in the morning, closed up 2.27 % at $99.08.

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

In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery, which earlier climbed 8.66% to 100.10 dollars, ended up 0.77% at 92.81 dollars.

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 tumbled 36.61%, VTB Bank 41.25%.

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%.

The euro rises against the dollar

The yen stabilized Friday morning against the dollar, at the rate of one dollar for 115.58 yen around 00:50 GMT against 115.53 yen Thursday at 21:00 GMT.

The Japanese currency fell against the euro, which was worth 129.55 yen against 129.31 yen the day before.

The euro rose to 1.1207 dollars against 1.1192 dollars Thursday at 9:00 p.m. GMT.

© 2022 AFP