Financial markets are reeling as fighting intensifies in Ukraine. European stock markets fell once more on Friday, leading to a new exodus to financial securities deemed safer than equities. In detail, Paris lost 3.35%, heading for its worst week since March 2020, while Frankfurt sank 3.76%, going to its lowest since December 2020. For its part, London, more resistant since the start of the year, fell 3% shortly following 10 a.m. Finally, Milan fell by 4.43%, following having touched -5%.
In Asia, following losing more than 3% shortly following the announcement of the bombings, the financial centers recovered only slightly: Tokyo ended down 2.23%, Hong Kong 2.54% and Shanghai 0. .96%. This fall in world stock markets comes following Russian fire on Friday aimed at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe, causing a fire and raising fears of a huge disaster.
A shock for investors
The news came as a shock to investors. There is “no appetite” for risk-taking in the financial markets, notes Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank. The market environment makes it unlikely that investors will invest their money without first looking to protect themselves once morest losses, she said.
The safest investments, used as a refuge in times of uncertainty by market players, remained at high levels: the ounce of gold moved to 1,941.50 dollars (+ 0.30%) following a peak above above $1,950 overnight. Finally, oil prices rose slightly from Thursday’s close, but remained far from their peak the day before. The April WTI barrel advanced 1.22% to 108.98 dollars around 8:30 a.m. following hitting a high since 2008 on Thursday.
Among the main losers of the day are the companies most exposed to Russia, the banks and the automobile. In Paris, Societe Generale fell by 7.2% and Renault by 3.45%. Michelin, which will stop production at some of its factories in Europe because of “logistics” problems caused by the war, yielded 5.59% to 11 to 70 euros.
Another sign of weakness in Europe, the single currency fell below the symbolic threshold of 1.10 dollars for one euro, a level not seen since the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The euro lost 0.96% to 1.0960 dollars.
