Ukraine war – live ticker: supplier warns of rising gas prices

Created: 2022-02-24Updated: 2022-02-24, 12:10 p.m

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

Deutsche Börse: The Russian army is attacking Ukraine.

The stock markets are in turmoil.

(Iconic image) © Arne Dedert/dpa

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a military operation in Ukraine.

War is now raging in Europe - with far-reaching consequences for the economy.

• The Russian army attacks Ukraine.

  Ukraine's Foreign Minister Says Russia Has Launched "Large-Scale Invasion"*

• There is turmoil on the stock exchanges: the war pushes the DAX below 14,000 points: "The worst fears have come true"

  (update from February 24, 10:02 a.m.)

• Numerous raw materials are becoming more expensive, including wheat and aluminum

  (update from February 24, 11:29 a.m.)

• This news ticker on the economic consequences of the Ukraine crisis is continuously updated.

Update from February 24, 11:29 a.m

.: With the Russian attack on Ukraine, wheat has become much more expensive on the world market, along with numerous other commodities.

The price of a bushel rose more than five percent on Thursday to just under 935 US cents, the highest level since 2012. The price on the Chicago Commodity Exchange (COBT) was the maximum possible amount of 50 in the morning US cents have risen, said commodity expert Carsten Fritsch from Commerzbank.

Numerous raw materials exported from Russia rose sharply on Thursday.

The country is one of the most important wheat producers in the world.

But Ukraine is also one of the major wheat producers.

Both countries together account for about a quarter of global trade in the agricultural commodity.

EnBW: The global gas market works - prices could rise

Update from February 24, 11:02 a.m

.: According to the energy supplier EnBW, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, its gas customers could face higher prices.

The Karlsruhe group buys gas for its several hundred thousand customers on the German wholesale market, a spokeswoman said.

Russia is a major gas supplier* for Germany and Europe.

President Vladimir Putin had said he did not want to stop gas supplies abroad despite Western sanctions.

However, his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev had threatened to significantly increase gas prices after the halt to the approval process for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline: "Well, welcome to the new world in which Europeans will soon be paying 2,000 euros per 1,000 cubic meters of gas." he wrote on Twitter.

The head of the energy company Eon, Leonhard Birnbaum, warned in the weekly newspaper

of serious consequences for the industry if Russian gas supplies were to be stopped.

The security of supply is not at risk at the moment, said the EnBW spokeswoman on Thursday.

"The Russian contractual partners are currently delivering the contractually agreed quantities of gas." In addition, deliveries from Norway and the Netherlands as well as liquefied natural gas deliveries to western European terminals covered the demand.

"This is proof that the global gas market works," said the spokeswoman.

"As of now, and assuming a normal temperature curve, we are well equipped in terms of security of supply." German gas storage facilities also played a role.

Moscow stock exchange loses half of its value

Update February 24, 10:37 a.m

.: After Russia's attack on Ukraine, investors continued to withdraw from the Russian stock market.

The RTS index collapsed by almost half to 612 points on Thursday.

Within six trading days, the losses add up to around 60 percent.

On Wednesday alone, shares in the energy giant Gazprom lost a good quarter of their value.

Trading resumed after a temporary interruption, as did the stock exchange in the second largest city, St. Petersburg.

Investors are primarily looking at new sanctions by the West against Russia.

According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the planned steps will stop Russian banks from accessing the European financial markets.

In addition, Russian assets in the EU are to be frozen and important sectors of the Russian economy are to be denied access to key technologies and markets.

Meanwhile, the Russian central bank was helping the tumbling ruble.

After the national currency fell to a record low against the US dollar because of the attack on Ukraine in the morning, the central bank announced interventions.

Economist: With higher gas prices, there is a risk of inflation of six percent

Update from February 24, 10:23 a.m

.: The German Economic Institute (IW) warns of sharply rising gas prices due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and Western sanctions.

As a result, an inflation rate of 6.1 percent threatens in Germany.

Economic growth could then be lower in 2023.

Germany gets more than half of its natural gas imports from Russia.

"Even if the Federal Republic could survive a short-term stop in gas deliveries, gas prices would skyrocket," explained the IW in Cologne on Thursday.

The economists carried out two model simulations in order to assess the possible impact of such a scenario on the German economy and consumers.

In the first scenario, the gas price will remain at the level of the fourth quarter of 2021 in 2022. Then the inflation rate would rise to 4.3 percent in the current year and to 4.5 percent in 2023, as the IW estimates.

Consumers, but also companies, would have even less in their wallets than they already have.

Private consumption would be lower, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 0.2 percent in 2022 and by 0.7 percent in 2023.

The second scenario assumes even higher prices: gas prices are expected to rise by a further 50 percent.

According to the calculations, the inflation rate would then climb to 6.1 percent this year and 5.0 percent in 2023.

GDP would be 1.4 percent lower in the coming year.

The IW emphasized that these are possible developments and not forecasts.

War in Ukraine pushes Dax below 14,000 points

Update from February 24, 10:02 a.m

.: Russia's attack on Ukraine sent the Dax down on Thursday *.

The 14,000 point mark fell right at the start of trading.

“The worst fears have come true.

There is war in Europe,” said portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners in Frankfurt.

The Russian invasion did not hit the stock exchanges unprepared, "nevertheless, shock waves are running through the capital markets".

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 14,118.77 points.

The MDax of medium-sized stocks lost 2.53 percent to 31,079.97 points.

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 3831.15 points.

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.

From the Dax, in which there was no winner among the 40 stocks on Thursday, Deutsche Telekom and Heidelbergcement reported on the past year.

The T-Share fell in unison with the Dax.

The shares of the building materials manufacturer were significantly more negative at minus 6.0 percent.

In the MDax, only the shares of the defense company Rheinmetall were up 2.3 percent.

Uniper, on the other hand, brought up the rear with just under 8 percent to EUR 30.70.

They still showed a strong recovery, because at the start of trading they had collapsed to EUR 27.70, a low since December 2020.

The power producer does a significant share of the business in Russia and is a co-financer of the frozen Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Aluminum price soars to record high after Russian attack

Update February 24, 9:36 a.m

.: The price of aluminum has risen to a record high with the Russian attack on Ukraine.

On the London Stock Exchange, a ton rose 2.9 percent to $3,388 on Thursday morning.

The price of the metal thus surpassed the previous high that was reached during the economic crisis in 2008.

The sharp increase in the price of aluminum could further fuel inflation, since aluminum is contained in many products.

Russia is one of the world's largest suppliers of aluminum.

Russian and European stock markets crash

Update from February 24, 9:14 a.m .:

After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the European stock exchanges crashed on Thursday morning.

The Dax in Frankfurt am Main lost 4.39 percent at the start of trading.

The prices on the stock exchanges in Paris and London also collapsed after the overnight invasion.

Update from February 24, 9:00 a.m .:

Just a few hours after trading was suspended, the Moscow stock exchange reopened on Thursday.

The RTS index, which is calculated in dollars, fell by more than 20 percent and the ruble-based MOEX index by almost 14 percent.

After the Russian attack on Ukraine, trade was initially suspended.

Update from February 24, 8:43 a.m .: In

view of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Russian central bank says it has started “interventions” in order to “stabilize the situation”.

The measures also aim to provide Russian banks with liquidity in the face of further sanctions from the West, the central bank announced on Thursday.

The country's currency, the ruble, fell 9 percent to an all-time low.

The central bank in Moscow assured that it will maintain the country's financial stability and the operations of financial institutions "with all necessary instruments".

You have "clear action plans for each scenario".

The ruble fell 9.02 percent against the dollar on the previous day.

For the first time in history, 90 rubles were needed for one dollar.

In the course of the morning (local time), the price recovered somewhat.

Update from February 24, 08:25:

After Russia's attack on Ukraine, investors have withdrawn further from the Russian stock market.

The RTS index collapsed by a fifth to 966 points shortly after trading started on Thursday.

Within six trading days, the losses add up to more than a third.

It is still unclear how the West will react to the Russian invasion.

At the very least, harsh economic sanctions are likely to follow.

Trading was initially suspended in the morning and then started late.

The Russian central bank has meanwhile announced that it will intervene in the foreign exchange market.

The Russian ruble is under significant pressure against the dollar.

After Russian attack: digital currencies fall sharply

Update from February 24, 8:08 a.m .:

Digital currencies like Bitcoin reacted to Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Thursday with significant price losses.

In the morning, the price of the oldest and largest cryptocurrency by market value, Bitcoin, fell by around eight percent to below $35,000.

Ether, the second largest Internet currency by market value, fell by 12 percent to around $2,300.

Other digital values ​​such as Cardano or Dogecoin collapsed even more.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are considered by experts to be particularly risky investments, which is why they are particularly affected by the high level of uncertainty due to the Russian attack.

“Once again, cryptoassets prove that the supposed safe haven narrative is a myth,” commented expert Timo Emden from Emden Research.

Some crypto investors believe that digital assets have a protective function against particularly uncertain times, similar to gold, despite high price fluctuations.

The markets in Germany, Russia and Asia are reacting

Update from February 24, 8:01 a.m .:

The German bond market reacted to Russia's attack on Ukraine with strong gains.

On Thursday morning, the trend-setting futures contract Euro Bund Future rose by around one percent to 167.64 points.

In view of the military escalation in Ukraine, investors headed for the safe haven of government bonds.

In return, there are indications that the risky stock markets are likely to collapse at the start of trading.

The leading German index, the Dax, is expected to fall by more than four percent.

Update from February 24, 7:43 a.m .:

The euro reacted to Russia's attack on Ukraine on Thursday with losses against the US dollar.

Currencies that are perceived as safe, such as the dollar or the Japanese yen, gained popularity.

The Russian ruble fell more than 6 percent against the dollar.

One euro cost $1.1250 in the morning, and the euro had fallen to $1.1209 early in the morning.

That was about a cent less than last night.

The dollar appreciated sharply against the Russian ruble, climbing above 84 rubles.

In turn, the Russian national currency collapsed.

Update from February 24, 7:40 a.m.:

Russia's attack on Ukraine weighed heavily on the stock markets in Asia on Thursday.

In Tokyo, the leading index Nikkei 225 closed 1.8 percent lower.

The Hang Seng index in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region fell 3.2 percent, and the CSI 300 index, which lists the top 300 mainland China companies, fell 1.9 percent.

Attack on Ukraine: Gold and oil prices rise

Update February 24, 7:06 a.m.:

The Russian attack on Ukraine pushed the price of gold to its highest level since January 2021 on Thursday.

A troy ounce (around 31.1 grams) cost 1949 US dollars in early trading, around two percent more.

Investors are looking for forms of investment that are considered safe, such as gold.

Prices on the stock markets fell sharply.

Update from February 24, 6:18 a.m .:

After the Russian attack on Ukraine, trading on the Moscow stock exchange was suspended on Thursday.

The stock exchange announced that a resumption would be announced later.

The Moscow stock exchange had already collapsed massively in the past few days as a result of the Ukraine crisis.

Update from February 24, 4:49 a.m .:

After the announcement of a Russian “military operation” in Ukraine, the price of a barrel of oil rose to more than $ 100 (89 euros) on Thursday night for the first time in seven years.

The Hong Kong stock market plunged more than 3 percent in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement.

US President Joe Biden spoke of an "unprovoked and unjustified attack" on Ukraine.

With material from dpa and AFP

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