The war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices cast a shadow over the outlook for inflation and growth in Europe.
A situation that mechanically penalizes stock market valuations.
This Monday at the opening, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange dropped 4.10%, Paris 4.04%, Milan 4.58%.
The London market, which has been more resilient since the start of this crisis, lost 1.87%.
A situation that also affects Asia.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended the session down 3.9% to 21,057.63 points, its lowest closing level since July 2016.
In this context, the shares of the most committed companies in Russia tumble due to Western sanctions against Russia: around 9:30 a.m., Alstom, which holds a 20% stake in the railway manufacturer Transmashholding, fell from 12.45 %, Societe Generale, present via its subsidiary Rosbank, fell by 10.41%.
Automakers Renault (-7.83%) and Stellantis (-10.05%) which operate factories in Russia were also penalized.
Complicated task for the ECB
The possibility of a European and American embargo on Russian oil and gas mentioned by Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State in the United States even if Germany is not in favor of it as well as many companies has precipitated the fall recorded this Monday morning.
JP Morgan analysts estimated that "the consequences of a complete halt to Russia's 4.3 million barrels per day of oil exports to the United States and Europe would be dramatic" adding that " to the extent that this disengagement picks up speed, the magnitude and duration of the disruption—and hence the shock to global growth—will accumulate.
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In the meantime, investors who can must do so.
It should be remembered that during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, US stock markets fell 22% in the space of three months, before returning to their highs in 12 months.
In 1990 during the Gulf War, Wall Street erased a 20% decline in less than four months.
In the meantime, the task promises to be complicated for the European Central Bank (ECB) to manage this crisis which comes on top of that of the Covid.
The ECB is to convene its board of governors this week.
The question is whether it will stick with its plan to end asset purchases under its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program for now or take additional measures to combat inflation?