Global stock markets plummeted and the price of oil jumped more than 8 percent Thursday upon the news that the Russian army had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones fell 2.5 percent, dropping about 800 points, the S&P 500 index fell 2.6 percent, and the Nasdaq was down 3.3 percent.
Markets also plunged in Asia and Europe. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 3.2 percent, its biggest drop in five months, according to CNN. Japan’s Nikkel 225 fell 1.8 percent. Stoxx Europe was down about 3.5 percent.
Stocks also collapsed in Moscow, while the ruble fell to a record low, and the Russian stock exchange briefly suspended trading, the New York Times reported.
The Russian attack caused the price of Brent crude to spike more than 8 percent to as much as $105 a barrel. The price of U.S. crude also jumped 7.5 percent to about $99 a barrel. Russia is the world’s second largest producer of oil, and the second largest exporter of crude oil. Europe is particularly reliant on Russian energy.
President Joe Biden is expected to release another round of emergency oil reserves in response to the attack. The release is expected to be larger than a release in November, made in response to high gas prices at the pumps. Energy prices in the U.S. were already at a 7-year high before the Russian attack.
Food price inflation is also expected on the heels of the attack, CNN reported. Russia and Ukraine account for a quarter of global wheat exports, and Ukraine is a large corn exporter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion early on Thursday in Moscow, warning that any countries that tried to intervene would be met with a Russian response “so severe that no foreign nations have ever experienced it before.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on citizens to defend the nation.
Source: National Review
