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The price of Brent crude oil rose above $111 a barrel, its highest level since early July 2014, despite the United States’ decision to release, together with its allies, about 60 million barrels of its strategic reserves, in order to stabilize global energy markets. . U.S. light crude also jumped more than 6% to $109.48 a barrel, its highest level since September 2013.

Oil cartel Opec will hold a meeting today to discuss production plans. So far, the cartel has confirmed that it remains committed to the OPEC+ deal with Russia and is not expected to change its production plans despite the war in Ukraine.

The American oil giant Exxon Mobil announced yesterday that it would quit its Russian operations, including oil producing fields, following similar moves by Britain’s BP and Shell, and Norway’s Equinor.

the Moscow Stock Exchange will remain closed for a third day, while the ruble is trading at 101.1 to the dollar, after hitting a record high of 117 to the dollar on Tuesday.

Shares are in another tough race. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed down around 1.6% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 1.8%. Asian markets are mostly down: Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.7% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.9%. European stocks are set for a lower open, after suffering declines over the past two days.

Last night the European branch of Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, was shut down by order of the European Central Bank.

The ECB had warned on Monday that the Vienna-based bank was failing or at risk of failing due to a run on deposits. This prompted the Austrian Financial Markets Authority to impose a moratorium on the bank’s activities, and just over an hour before the moratorium expired last night, the FMA ordered the bank to close with immediate effect. , citing the ECB order.

The US, EU, UK and other countries reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a battery of sanctions, including banning major Russian banks from Swift, the main system global payment. As a result, Sberbank Europe said on Monday that it had “experienced a significant outflow of customer deposits in a very short period of time”.

As sanctions on Russia widened, a number of UK companies rushed to sell Russian assets yesterday, including Legal & General, Abrn and public pension scheme Nest, which said it would try to sell Russian stocks. British Gas owner Centrica has become the third major British energy firm to sever ties with Russia in a week, echoing BP and Shell in announcing the end of its gas supply deal with government-controlled Gazprom. the Kremlin.

FTSE 100 commodities trader Glencore said it would review its business activities in Russia, including its stakes in two Russian-linked companies: state-controlled oil firm Rosneft and mining group FTSE 100 In+.

ING economists said:

Given the war raging on the periphery of Western Europe, it is surprising how little markets have reacted overall, with negative days punctuated by dips in buying in some markets. This is especially true for the equity market, where yesterday’s 1.5% drop in the Nasdaq and S&P 500 leaves both exchanges well above their lows for the year and equity futures suggest prospects. more positive.

That’s a different story in the bond space. European bond yields were down sharply yesterday. two-year German bond yields fell more than 20 basis points and 10-year Bund yields fell 21 basis points to -0.08%. US Treasury yields also fell sharply.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict will likely continue to dominate the markets for the foreseeable future. Yesterday’s announcement that Russia will not pay coupons to foreign holders on its public debt should push investors further into safe havens. Support for the start of Ukraine’s EU accession process shows unity of support for Ukraine from Western Europe, but is unlikely to help ease tensions.

Agenda

• OPEC meeting
• 8:55 GMT: German unemployment for February
• 10 a.m. GMT: Eurozone inflation for February (flash estimate)
• 13:15 GMT: ADP US jobs report for February
• 15:00 GMT: Bank of Canada decision on interest rates
• 15:00 GMT: US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies
• 4pm GMT: Russia unemployment rate for January