Shares were mixed in Asia but U.S. and European futures were sharply lower as President Vladimir Putin escalated tensions by ordering that Russian nuclear forces be put on high alert.
Japan over the weekend joined moves by the U.S. and other Western nations to impose sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on access for some Russian banks to the SWIFT system. The end of the month usually brings a raft of economic data, but for now the conflict is eclipsing other issues. U.S. futures fell, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 2.5% and that for the Dow industrials 1.6% lower. The future for Germany’s DAX dropped 3.2% and the future for the FTSE 100 lost 1.3%.Japan’s Nikkei 225 index recovered from earlier losses to edge 0.1% higher at 26,514.79. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.8% to 22,584.17. The Shanghai Composite index was 0.1% lower at 3,449.52. The Kospi in Seoul climbed 0.6% to 2,690.28, while in Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7% to 7,049.10.
Oil prices surged Monday, with U.S. benchmark crude up $5.33, or 5.8%, at $96.92 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.22 to 91.59 per barrel on Friday.