The financial markets reacted to news on Thursday that Russia has launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine by sending key commodity prices soaring and stock prices plummeting.
At the closing of trading, Germany’s DAX index had dropped by slightly under 4%, to 14,052.10 points.
The MDax, or medium-sized company index, fell 3.84 percent to 30,663.58 points at the close of trading.
The FTSE 100 index in the United Kingdom fell by the most in a single day since June 2020.
The value of Britain’s 100 largest publicly traded firms had been wiped out of £77 billion ($103 billion) by the conclusion of trading on Thursday, according to the Press Association (PA).
This amounted to a 3.9 percent decrease.
“Our worst worries have come true,” said QC Partners portfolio manager Thomas Altmann. “Europe is at war.”
The stock markets in the United States followed Europe’s downward trend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index each opened more than 2.5 percent lower than the previous day’s finish.
The sell-off began in Asia, where financial markets plummeted when news of the invasion came on Thursday morning.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 benchmark index finished the day at 25,970.82 points, down 1.81 percent.
The CSI 300 index of mainland China’s 300 most prominent enterprises dropped 2.03 percent to 4,529.32 points at the close of the day.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 3.6 percent to 22,802.23 points.
The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia finished 2.98 percent lower at 6,990.63 points.
The benchmark RTS-Index in Russia fell by over half to 610 at one point. It subsequently somewhat recovered to be about 35% lower than the previous day’s close.
Gazprom’s stock has lost over a third of its worth.
The Russian ruble hit a record low against the US dollar at one point, shedding 6% of its value.
The Russian central bank announced that it would intervene in the market to prevent the rouble’s price from falling any further.
The euro fell 1.4 percent to 1.114 against the dollar.
Key commodities such as wheat and oil, on the other hand, saw sharp price increases during the day.
A barrel (159 litres) of North Sea Brent cost more than $100 for the first time since 2014.
Aluminium prices also surged in the early hours of Thursday.
On the London Stock Exchange, the price of one ton of the metal rose by 2.9 per cent to $3,388, passing the previous high reached during the economic crisis of 2008.
Natural gas of which Russia is a major global supplier is needed for aluminium production.
Gold, which is regarded as a safe haven investment in uncertain times, saw its price rise towards the $2,000 mark on the London Stock Exchange.
One troy ounce (31.1 grams) was trading at up to $1,974 today, its highest level since September 2020.
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