European equities are expected to continue their decline as the barrel of Brent rises above 130 dollars. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,556.01 points (-4.96%), the CAC 40 at 6,061.66 points (-4.97%), the DAX 40 at 13,094.54 points (-4.41% ), the FTSE 100 at 6,987.14 points (-3.48%), the SMI at 11,300.13 points (-3.22%), the AEX at 671.73 points (-4.78%), the BEL 20 at 3,760.43 points (-2.95%), the IBEX 35 at 7,720.90 points (-3.63%), the DJIA at 33,614.80 points (-0.53%), the Nasdaq at 13,313.44 points (-1.66%), the S&P 500 at 4,328.87 points (-0.79%) and the Nikkei 225 at 25,221.41 points (-2.94%).

Regarding exchange rates, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD opens at 1.0873 (-0.57%), EUR/JPY at 124.97 (-0.44%) and USD/JPY at 114.94 (+0.09%).

Investors will remain attentive on Monday to statements by French companies on their activities in Russia and Ukraine. Over the weekend, Danone announced that it had "decided to suspend all investment projects in Russia" but to maintain its production and distribution of fresh dairy products and infant nutrition there, "in order to meet essential food needs civilian populations".

European equity markets are set to open sharply lower on Monday after Russian bombing intensified in Ukraine and as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington and its European partners were discussing a possible ban on Russian oil imports. These remarks led overnight to a new surge in oil prices to more than 130 dollars a barrel.

At 7:25 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract lost 162 points, or 2.7%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract was down 382 points, or 2.9%, and the FTSE 100 contract was down 145 points, or 2.1%. On Friday, European equity markets had already fallen sharply, reacting to Russia's bombing of a major Ukrainian nuclear power plant.

In Asia, the main indices are moving in the red. The Nikkei index closed down 2.9% in Tokyo. At the end of the session, the Hang Seng index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped 3.3%, hovering around its lowest level in several years. The Shanghai Composite lost 2%. Alongside Wall Street, the Dow Jones index futures fell 1%, the S&P 500 fell 1.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1%. .7%.

Yields on US Treasury bonds continued to slide on Monday, although the monthly US payroll employment report signaled a recovery in the US economy. At 7:25 a.m., the ten-year Treasury bill rate was at 1.704%, against 1.732% on Friday evening.

The dollar continued to appreciate on Monday against other major currencies, including the euro, supported by the war between Russia and Ukraine and a new surge in commodity prices. According to Oanda, the euro remains very vulnerable to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its weakness is accentuated by the signs of strength in consumption in the United States, which suggests that the next bouts of inflation could be supported by the economy.

Oil prices rose to their highest level since 2008 on Monday and Brent crude rose above $130 a barrel, after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington and its European partners were discussing a possible ban on imports of Russian oil. As of 7:20 a.m., the May North Sea Brent crude oil futures contract was up $12.01, or 10.2%, at $130.12 a barrel, while the April contract for light sweet crude oil (WTI ) listed on the Nymex was up $10.52, or 9.1%, at $126.15 a barrel.