European Shares Tumble Amid Russia-Ukraine War

European stocks tumbled on Monday amid heightened tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s central bank more than doubled interest rates to 20 percent in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent the run of banks amid crippling Western sanctions over the Russian war in Ukraine.

The rouble sank more than 40 percent to a record low against the dollar while oil prices jumped by as much as $7 a barrel as President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear deterrent on high alert amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.4 percent to 447.12 after rallying as much as 3.3 percent on Friday. The German DAX lost 2.5 percent, France’s CAC 40 index slumped 2.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 1.2 percent.

Amid all this, a Ukrainian delegation is meeting Russian officials for talks near the Belarus border today.

Banks led losses after the U.S. Japan and other Western nations moved over the weekend to impose additional sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on access for some Russian banks to the SWIFT global bank payments system.

Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale plummeted 8-10 percent.
BP shares slumped 6.7 percent after the oil giant said it is exiting stake in Russia’s Rosneft.

Russian gold miner Polymetal International plunged as much as 50 percent and the steel producer Evraz lost 25 percent.

BAE Systems soared 14 percent after Germany said it would ramp up military spending in a major policy shift.

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