- Bumrah takes four as India bowl out Bangladesh for 149
- Sri Lanka 134-1 to take upper hand in first New Zealand Test
- Bayern's Kompany calls for game cap for players amid strike talks
- Christie's expands Hong Kong footprint in hope of art market 'pickup'
- Sultry screen legend Sophia Loren turns 90
- Cambodian opposition figure in court on incitement charge
- Bumrah takes three wickets to have Bangladesh in trouble at 112-8
- Kimchi threat as heatwave drives up South Korea cabbage prices
- UK economic data delivers fresh blow to new govt
- China to 'gradually resume' seafood imports from Japan after Fukushima ban
- India minister blames dam release for flooding
- O'Rourke strikes early for Kiwis as Sri Lanka trail by three
- Deep takes two as Bangladesh totter in reply to India's 376
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
Stocks sink, gas and oil prices soar over escalation fears in Ukraine
Global stock markets fell across the board Friday and energy prices soared as investors feared the risk of an escalation after Russia attacked the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Europe's main stock markets plunged more than three percent for much of the day after Asian indices closed sharply lower.
Wall Street followed suit, with the Dow dropping by more than one percent in early trading.
The euro sank close to a two-year low under $1.10 as the Ukraine conflict clouds the eurozone's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The greenback benefited also from its status as a haven investment.
"European markets are closing in on bear market territory in heavy selling at the end of the week as investors grow increasingly fearful of recessionary and escalation risks," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said earlier "investors have been rattled by the turn of the fighting in Ukraine, after a nuclear plant was attacked which has heightened worries about the potential escalation of the crisis."
Oil prices shot up again around five percent on fears of supply disruptions to Russian crude but were still below the almost $120 per barrel reached Thursday.
- 'Economic clinch point' -
Hopes for an Iran nuclear deal that would allow Tehran to restart crude exports to the world market capped crude's gains, analysts said.
European and UK gas prices surged to record peaks Friday on supply disruption fears as a result of key supplier Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine.
Europe's reference Dutch TTF gas price struck 213.895 euros per megawatt hour in afternoon deals, while UK gas prices hit 508.80 pence per therm.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has meanwhile demanded still tougher sanctions against his Moscow foes after Russian forces attacked and seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but Kyiv said no radiation leak was detected.
Western countries have hit Russia's economy hard including by closing airspace, freezing assets and excluding seven banks from the SWIFT interbank messaging network.
The impact is already impeding Moscow's ability to shore up the beleaguered ruble and purchase imports.
Russia's invasion of its neighbour Ukraine has sent global stock markets slumping over the week, during which time commodities including wheat, metals and particularly oil have soared.
That has fuelled concerns that the global economic recovery from Covid-19 will be derailed, especially with surging prices adding to worries about decades-high inflation.
To combat rocketing costs, Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell this week said he intends to raise US interest rates this month, though he tempered expectations of a half-point rise.
"The economic clinch point of this war is commodity prices," said City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta.
"Higher energy prices, slowing growth, and surging inflation are not a good outlook."
In New York, the Dow, S&P and the Nasdaq all fell after opening as worries about the worsening picture of the Russia-Ukraine conflict overshadowed a strong US jobs report.
US employers added 678,000 workers to their payrolls in February, driving the unemployment rate down to 3.8 percent in a monthly report that was better than expected.
- Key figures around 14:45 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 2.7 percent at 7,044.13 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 3.2 percent at 13,265.48
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 3.4 percent at 6,159.85
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 3.3 percent at 3,617.10
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.1 percent at 33,414.84
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.2 percent at 25,985.47 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.5 percent at 21,905.29 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,447.65 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0918 from $1.1069 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3226 from $1.3350
Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.50 pence from 82.89 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.27 yen from 115.45 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.1 percent at $114.97 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 5.1 percent at $113.12 per barrel
burs-lc/kjm
G.Schulte--BTB