European shares fall sharply as investors weigh Ukraine crisis

European shares tumbled to a four-month low on Monday, with auto and technology shares leading losses after Kremlin comments dashed hopes of a diplomatic solution to Europe’s biggest military crisis in decades.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 1.30% to 454.81 points, its lowest level since October, on headlines related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The technology sub-index dipped 2.6%, to its lowest since March last year, and marked its fourth straight day of losses. The sector, like the European benchmark, has spent seven out of eight weeks in negative territory so far this year.

The Kremlin said on Monday there were no concrete plans for a summit on Ukraine between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, after French President Emmanuel Macron said the two leaders agreed to a meeting in principle.

Meanwhile, Paris blue-chips hit their lowest level since early December and German shares fell to 11-month lows.

The STOXX 600 is down about 20.2% so far this year on concerns over Ukraine, amid risks of an aggressive monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to combat inflationary risks. .

US markets remained closed on Monday for a holiday.

• In London, the Financial Times index dropped 0.39%, to 7,484.33 points;
• In Frankfurt, the DAX index fell 2.07% to 14,731.12 points;
• In Paris, the CAC-40 index lost 2.04%, to 6,788.34 points;
• In Milan, the Ftse/Mib index had a devaluation of 1.72%, to 26,050.03 points;
• In Madrid, the Ibex-35 index registered a drop of 1.18%, to 8,488.90 points;
• In Lisbon, the PSI20 index fell by 2.46%, to 5,493.49 points.