Oil, Gold Surge, Share Prices Plummet in Response to Russian Invasion

Oil prices surged Thursday, with Brent crude oil crossing the $100 per barrel threshold for the first time since 2014 as Russia attacked Ukraine, exacerbating concerns that a war in Europe could disrupt global energy supplies. Meanwhile, stock markets have taken a sharp downturn: UK’s FTSE 100 index is down 2.95% and Germany’s Dax index fell more than 4.5%. In the US, the Nasdaq stock exchange fell by 2.57% and the S&P 500 by 1.84%. Gold, considered a safe haven for investors when the stock market is suffering from uncertainty, rose by about 3.6%. Markets have been hammered this week after the Kremlin recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, said it would provide “peacekeepers” to the regions, and then launched a full-scale invasion of the country.