Several explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, before dawn, after an initial series of sounds similar to artillery fire, a Reuters witness reported, shortly after Russia announced the military operation.
Tokyo's Nikkei was 2.4 per cent lower. Singapore's Straits Times Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index were down about 2.8 per cent at 12.05pm. "The real worry is that Europe is cut off from Russian gas. The EU couldn't cope with such a supply shock and would have to rein in demand, which would be economically debilitating," he added."Higher energy prices are also where the rubber hits the road as far as global economic growth is concerned, that's got to be bad for risk sentiment."
Brent crude futures, which seesawed between sharp rises and falls on Wednesday, resumed a climb toward US$100 a barrel on Thursday, adding 1.22 per cent to US$97.98. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.32 per cent to US$93.32 per barrel.Putin's comments torpedoed US stocks took a beating, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.38 per cent to barely above the level that would have confirmed a correction.
All the same, immediate geopolitical threats weighed on US yields on Thursday, pushing the benchmark US 10-year yield down sharply to 1.9165 per cent from its U.S. close of 1.977 per cent on Wednesday. The 2-year yield also fell, to 1.5358 per cent from a close of 1.6 per cent.