Oil above $100, gold gains, global stocks down with SWIFT ban on Russia

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – The price of oil climbed above $100 again and precious metals gained, while global stock exchanges were down on Monday, as some Russian banks are banned from the SWIFT international banking system.

The US and its allies agreed Saturday to remove certain Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as SWIFT, a global financial transactions and payments system used between banks worldwide.

The move aims to limit the ability of Russia in the global financial system and international foreign trade.

As a response Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered deterrence forces, including nuclear arms, to be placed on high alert. Ukrainian and Russian delegations will hold talks on the border between Ukraine and Belarus later Monday.

While the military conflict in Ukraine continues, investors once again headed to precious metals as safe haven assets.

The price of gold gained 1.1% to $1,909 per ounce at 0640 GMT, while silver increased 0.33% to $24.36.

Brent crude jumped 5.6% to $99.37 per barrel, after briefly seeing $101.25. American benchmark West Texas Intermediate soared 5.8% to $96.90 a barrel.

In Asia, the Hang Seng was down almost 200 points, or 0.9%, to 22,562. The benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange fell to as low as 22,406.12 points at one point – its lowest level in a year.

The Singapore index plummeted 48 points, or 1.45%, to 3,246.

Most indices in Europe and the US are expected to start the day in negative territory as the US futures were down around 2%.

The Dow Jones futures were down 485 points, or, 1.4%, at the time, while the S&P and the Nasdaq futures were down 2.1% apiece.

Trading is still suspended until further notice in the Moscow Exchange, MOEX, after it plummeted a whopping 33.3% on Friday.

The Russian ruble on Monday continued to dive significantly against the US dollar, euro and the British pound.

While the dollar was up 25% against the ruble at 0700GMT, the British pound gained almost 30%, and euro was up 22%.

The Russian Central Bank on Monday hiked interest rates from 9.5% to 20% amid a sudden decline in ruble and the Western sanctions.