Stocks fall and oil soars in the face of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,973.41 points (-0.30%), the CAC 40 at 6,780.67 points (-0.10%), the DAX 40 at 14,631.36 points (-0.42% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,498.18 points (+0.05%), the SMI at 11,941.89 points (-0.15%), the AEX at 727.91 points (-0.55%), the BEL 20 at 3,973.23 points (+0.36%), IBEX 35 at 8,440.10 points (-0.63%), DJIA at 33,131.76 points (-1.38%), Nasdaq at 13,037.49 points (-2.57%), the S&P 500 at 4,225.50 points (-1.84%) and the Nikkei 225 at 25,970.82 points (-1.81%).

On the exchange rate side, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 1.1229 (-0.68%), EUR/JPY at 128.64 (- 1.04%), USD/JPY at 114.57 (-0.39%).

While investors are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine, the results season continues in France, with in particular the annual accounts of Axa, Accor, Safran, Bouygues, Saint-Gobain, Arkema, Scor, Bureau Veritas, Getlink, Seb, Vallourec, Sopra Steria and SES.

World stock markets are falling and oil is trading at more than 100 dollars a barrel Thursday morning, while investors rush into gold and US sovereign debt, after the launch of a Russian military operation in Ukraine. While trading was suspended on the Moscow Stock Exchange, where the RTS index has lost 24.5% since the start of the year, the main stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region have all suffered sharp declines. The Nikkei index thus dropped 1.8% in Tokyo, the Hang Seng fell 3.3% at the end of the session in Hong Kong, the Shanghai Composite dropped 2%, the Kospi lost 2.6% in Seoul. In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 index fell 3% and the New Zealand NZX 50 index fell 3.3%.

In Europe, futures contracts on major indices point to a similar pattern at the open. At 7:25 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract fell 257 points, or 3.8%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 40 plunged 600 points, or 4.1%, and that on the FTSE 100 lost 164 points, or 2.2%. Futures contracts on Wall Street indices follow the same trend, with declines of 2% for contracts on the Dow Jones index and the S&P 500 and 2.4% for that on the Nasdaq.

Yields on Treasury bonds fell Thursday morning, with rates on ten- and two-year securities losing about 10 basis points each. The yield spread between these two stocks fell to its lowest level since April 2020 on Wednesday, on signs of an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The euro fell 0.5% to 1.1255 dollars Thursday, after the announcement of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian ruble plunged 8.9% against the greenback.

Oil prices soar Thursday morning under the effect of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. North Sea Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. By 7:10 a.m., the contract for April delivery was up $5.17, or 5.3%, at $102.01. The contract of the same maturity on light sweet crude (WTI) listed on Nymex was awarded 4.67 dollars, 5.1%, at 96.77 dollars a barrel. It is close to its highest level for seven years.