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The turmoil in Ukraine is spooking global financial markets,... unsettling investors
already nervous about shaky emerging market economies.
Russia's stock market and currency tumbled to levels unseen in recent years... dragging
down markets around the globe. Song Ji-sun reports. Western leaders are threatening
Russian President Vladimir Putin with economic penalties for his troops' intervention in
Crimea but the financial system is already punishing him.
The Moscow stock market suffered its biggest plunge in more than five years on Monday before
recouping some of its losses in early Tuesday trading... and the ruble tumbled sharply in
a nervous reaction to the Kremlin's gambit in Crimea.
The benchmark MICEX closed 11 percent lower in Moscow -- its biggest loss since November
2008. Russia's central bank tried to contain the
plunge in the ruble's value on Monday by raising its key interest rate by one and a half percentage
points to 7 percent. It was the largest interest rate hike since
the global financial crisis in 1998. Stocks in global markets stumbled across the
board ... with investors selling off shares particularly in companies with exposure to
Ukraine and Russia. The Dow Jones industrial average shed nearly
1 percent on Monday. The European markets were hit harder, with
the London benchmark Financial Times Stock Exchange ending the day one and a half percent
lower, and Paris and Frankfurt stocks losing 2-point-7 percent and 3-point-4 percent, respectively.
Stocks on the Ukrainian exchange in Kiev fell about 12 percent, and the country's currency
fell to a new low against the U.S. dollar. Ukraine faces a possible default on its debt
as Moscow is cutting off aid to its limping economy.
In Asian markets, Seoul shares closed slightly lower on Tuesady after shedding nearly one
percent on Monday... while Tokyo and Hong Kong shares rebounded on bargain hunting after
losing more than one percent each on Monday. The uncertainties pushed oil prices higher,
with Brent crude futures adding nearly 2 percent in London,... and gold also gained over 2-percent
to 13-hundred-50 dollars an ounce to mark its biggest gain of the year as investors
sought safe haven . Song Ji-sun, Arirang News.