European stocks ended Monday with heavy losses, although they managed to close away from the lows of the day, when they were found at the beginning of trading to lose more than 3%.
The escalation of the war in Ukraine has led to a frantic rally in commodity prices, with oil now climbing to higher levels since 2008 amid reports that the US and its European partners are considering imposing an embargo on Russian oil. Brent climbed to $ 139.13 a barrel earlier today, while US WTI reached $ 130.50 a barrel. These are the highest levels since July 2008.
The jump in energy prices is expected to lead to a new rally in inflation at the same time as the pressures on growth intensify, bringing back the nightmare of stagnant inflation on the European continent.
On the board, the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.1% to 471.14 points. The pan-European index ended last week with total losses of 7%, in its worst week since March 2020.
Banks and automakers fell more than 3% today, while shares in the oil and gas sector gained more than 4% amid a jump in oil prices. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told NBC on Sunday that Washington was in “very active discussions” with European governments over the possibility of imposing an embargo on Russian oil and gas imports to Europe. However, German Chancellor Olaf Solz said today that Germany was opposed to such a choice.
The German DAX fell 2% to 12,834.65 points, the French CAC 40 fell 1.3% to 5,982.27 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 6,959.48 points.
In the region, the Italian FTSE MIB fell 1.4%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell 1%.
Meanwhile, bombings in Ukraine’s largest cities continue today, the 12th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has intensified its military pounding with the main goal of blocking the capital Kiev in order to effectively lead to the downfall of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian forces are strongly defending the entire length and breadth of the war fronts.
Source: Capital
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