The Tokyo Stock Exchange unscrewed Monday morning as oil prices continued their dizzying rise, Western sanctions against Russian hydrocarbons now being openly on the table in the face of the war in Ukraine which intensifies.
The flagship Nikkei index fell 3.03% to 25,197.50 points shortly after 1:00 a.m. GMT (2 a.m. French time), while the broader Topix index dropped 2.91% to 1,791.25 points.
Read alsoOil: the barrel of Brent is close to 140 dollars, close to the absolute record
US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the United States and the European Union were "
very actively
" discussing the possibility of banning Russian oil imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Even if Russian oil exports are not sanctioned for the moment in theory, they already find almost no takers, which greatly disrupts the global supply of black gold.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea thus came close to 140 dollars on Sunday around 11:00 p.m. GMT (midnight, French time), close to its absolute record of 147.50 dollars reached in July 2008, before falling again while remaining in strong progression, like the American barrel of WTI.
“
Barring an end to hostilities, there is little on the horizon to slow
” the rise in oil prices, according to a National Australia Bank note released on Monday.
Investors take refuge in gold
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, for its part, plunged more than 3% on Monday at the opening.
In Hong Kong, in the first exchanges, the Hang Seng composite index yielded 3.59% to 21,118.16 points, in unison with global financial markets.
The Hong Kong market had already lost 2.54% on Friday following the bombing of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe.
The Hang Seng index lost 3.8% over the whole of last week.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: soaring wheat prices worry the world
Places in mainland China were also down but much less on Monday morning: the Shanghai Stock Exchange yielded 0.26% to 3,483.56 points and that of Shenzhen 0.53% to 2,252.7 points.
At the same time, gold rose above $2,000 in Asian trading on Monday morning, as investors took refuge in this value amid fears of the impact of the war.
The precious metal hit a high of $2,000.86 an ounce, its highest level since September 2020.