Russia’s attack on Ukraine sent the Dax plummeting on Thursday and pushed it below 14,000 points. Shortly after the start of trading, the leading German index fell by 4.4 percent to 13,988 points.
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After the Dax had dropped to its lowest level in almost a year in the morning, it quickly recovered somewhat and most recently fell by 3.50 percent to 14,118 points. The MDax of medium-sized stocks lost 2.53 percent to 31,079 points.
With regard to the price development, it was initially indicated that the Dax was heading for its biggest daily loss since the stock market crash in March 2020. The last time he was up to date was a little over a year ago.
In the wake of the conflict over Ukraine, the Dax has already fallen by a little more than five percent in the past six trading days.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine from several flanks early Thursday morning. “The worst fears have come true. There is war in Europe,” said portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners in Frankfurt.
[Verfolgen Sie die aktuellen Entwicklungen zur russischen Invasion in der Ukraine in unserem Liveblog.]
The Russian invasion did not hit the stock exchanges unprepared, “nevertheless, shock waves are running through the capital markets”. At the beginning of the week, the Dax had dropped to its lowest level in almost eleven months due to fears of war.
Energy company Uniper crashes
Uniper was one of the biggest losers on the German stock market with a minus of 16.7 percent. The utility is involved in financing the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The USA had announced sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG, Germany had stopped the certification of the line.
More on the Russian attack on Ukraine at Tagesspiegel Plus:
Stock exchanges across Europe also opened with heavy losses, which they also contained over the course of the year. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 recently lost 3.58 percent to 3831 points.
In Paris, the stock market collapsed by 4.19 percent at the start, in London by 2.55 percent. In Asia, equity markets were also under pressure given the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian stock markets also crashed. As a result, the central bank halted short selling. Such transactions are used to bet on falling prices. The central bank announced that the stop applies to the stock exchanges and the over-the-counter market (OTC) until further notice. (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
