European stocks plunged today at the start of trading as well Western countries have imposed new, harsh sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, while the jump in oil prices fueled fears of rising inflation.
At 10:10 Greek time, the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 2.1%. The German DAX fell 2.0%, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.9%.
The price of crude jumped almost 5% while The Russian ruble fell by almost 30% to a historically low level after Western countries imposed sanctions, including the exclusion of large Russian banks from the global SWIFT payment system.
European banks with the largest exposure in Russia, including Raiffeisen Bank, UniCredit and Societe Generale, fell between 6.3% and 15.8%, while the broader banking index of the euro area fell by 5.2%, as broadcast by Reuters and rebroadcast by the Athenian News Agency.
Shares of London-based BP fell 4.1 percent after the company, Russia’s largest foreign investor, announced it was leaving its stake in state-owned oil company Rosneft at a cost of up to $ 25 billion.
The share of the French Renault, which controls the Russian car industry Avtovaz, fell by 6.9%.
Lagarde for Ukraine: ECB to ensure smooth liquidity conditions and citizens’ access to cash
In this dark moment for Europe, the thoughts of the Governing Council of the ECB are with the people of Ukraine, says in a statement the head of the ECB Kr. Lagarde.
As he points out, the ECB is closely monitoring the evolving situation. It will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the economic outlook, which will include these latest developments and which will form the basis of the policy meeting on 10 March.
«The ECB will ensure smooth liquidity conditions and citizens’ access to cash. The ECB will implement the sanctions decided by the EU and European governments. “The ECB is ready to take any action necessary to fulfill its responsibilities to ensure price stability and financial stability in the euro area,” the statement concluded.
Source: News Beast
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