Global markets in red with rising risks amid Russian intervention in Ukraine

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major stock indices around the world closed Thursday in negative territory with massive losses amid rising risks in the financial sector surrounding Russian intervention in Ukraine.

In Europe, stocks ended the day with more than a 3% loss apiece.

STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 14.87 points, or 3.28%, to close flat at 438.99.

Italy's FTSE MIB was the worst performer, falling 1,077 points, or 4.15%, to finish at 24,877.

London's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX 30 and France's CAC 40 each ended close to 4% in the red.

The Moscow Exchange, MOEX, plummeted a whopping 33.3% before trading was suspended until further notice.

State-owned Russian banking and financial services company Sberbank saw its stock price lose 35.3%.

Natural gas firm Gazprom shares fell more than 21%, while oil company Rosneft posted a decline around 36%.

The ruble declined significantly against the US dollar, euro and the British pound.

While the dollar was up 5% against the ruble at 3.50 p.m. EDT, the British pound gained almost 4%, and euro was up 3.7%.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange dove 1.81%.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, lost 3.21%.

China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange was down 1.7%, while the Singapore index fell 3.45%.

Indian Sensex benchmark was the worst performer in the region plummeting 4.72%.

The Asia Dow, which includes the region's blue-chip companies, last 3.12%.