The star CAC 40 index fell 3.26% around 10:10 a.m., to 5,866.28 points, below the 6,000 point mark for the first time since March 2021. Last week, it sank 10.23%, its worst weekly performance since, losing nearly 5% on Friday.

The shares of Alstom, which holds a 20% stake in the railway manufacturer Transmashholding, and Société Générale, present through its subsidiary Rosbank, fell 12.85% and 9.37% respectively.

The Russian army continued its all-out offensive in Ukraine on Monday, notably bombarding the country's second city Kharkiv and trying to encircle the capital Kiev where the airborne warning sirens sounded at dawn.

New sanctions against Russia could be announced by Western countries.

The United States and the European Union are "very actively discussing" the possibility of banning imports of Russian oil in response to the invasion of Ukraine, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Sunday.

This hypothesis caused a new surge in the price of black gold.

The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea came close to 140 dollars on Sunday evening, close to its absolute record of 147.50 dollars (July 2008).

The "continued rise in the price of a barrel of oil, due to fears of a Western embargo, casts the shadow of a new inflationary shock which could, sooner or later, precipitate the European economy into stagflation", analyst John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.

Especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to disrupt "commodity markets, from agriculture to energy to metals," he adds.

These worries about the economic outlook are causing global stock markets to panic: Asian stock markets fell by around 3% on Monday, while safe havens were sought after, like gold which exceeded $ 2,000 on Monday. ounce.

The International Monetary Fund has for its part warned that an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine would have "devastating" economic consequences at the global level and that the sanctions would have a "substantial impact" on the world economy and "collateral effects for others". other countries".

In this context, investors will scrutinize the consumer price index in the United States in February on Thursday and will pay close attention to the conclusions of the monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) on the same day.

Travel and car also penalized

Automakers Renault (-5.10% to 21.97 euros) and Stellantis (-6.60% to 12.91 euros) which operate factories in Russia also fell sharply.

Faurecia fell 8.01% to 23.43 euros.

In the tourism sector, Air France-KLM tumbled 8.64% to 3.20 euros and the Accor hotel group lost 6.40% to 24.52 euros.

Danone continues its activities

The French agri-food group (-3.39% to 47.50 euros) indicated on Sunday that it was continuing its activities in Russia, where it generates 5% of its sales and employs 8,000 employees, but specified that it was suspending at the moment any investment in the country.

Pierre et Vacances continues negotiations

Exclusive negotiations between Pierre et Vacances and investors and creditors for its urgent recapitalization and a major debt conversion are extended until March 9, after "significant progress", "with a view to reaching a final agreement ".

The action of the group in difficulty lost 13.64% to 4.62 euros.

© 2022 AFP