Russia-Ukraine crisis hits Asian, European markets

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – All major Asian indices closed Monday with strong declines amid Russia-Ukraine tensions, which affects commodity prices in particular.

After the US officials' statements on Friday regarding the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the diplomatic steps taken over the weekend were not enough to boost investor confidence.

Commodity prices have risen to the highest levels in the recent years after growing tensions, with the situation expected to affect the economic recovery.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, fell 1.25% or 47.58 points, to close at 3,744 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange went down 2.23%, or 616.5 points, to reach 27,079 points.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, lost 350 points, or 1.41%, to stand at 24,556 points.

China's Shanghai stock exchange dropped 0.98%, or 34 points, to 3,428 points.

The Indian Sensex benchmark posted a decrease of 3% or 1,747 points to close at 56,405 points, and the Singapore index lost 7.75 points, or 0.23%, to reach 3,421 points.

- European markets

All major European indices posted negative figures as of mid-Monday.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, was down 13.33 points, or 2.84%, to reach 456.24 points as of 1018GMT.

London's FTSE 100 decreased 171.64 points, or 2.24%, to stand at 7,489 points, and Germany's DAX index reached 14,874 points, down 550.91 points or 3.57%.

The French CAC 40 lost 248.9 points, or 3.55%, to stand at 6,762 points, while Italy's FTSE MIB posted a fall of 1,020 points, or 3.78%, to reach 25,945 points.

Spain's IBEX 35 also dropped 267.8 points, or 3.04, to 8,530 points.