Stocks rebound, oil slips as traders weigh Russia sanctions

Global stocks mostly rose Friday while oil prices declined from 2014 peaks despite unease that Russia's invasion of Ukraine would drive commodity prices up.

In Europe, the three main indices all closed more than three per cent higher, recovering most if not all of the previous day's losses, as Western nations held off from imposing sanctions that would cripple critical sales of Russian oil and gas.

And Wall Street also scored further gains after ending Thursday in positive territory after the US announced its sanctions package.

Asian equities also mostly bounced back.

Also Read | Vladimir Putin calls on Ukraine army to remove leadership in Kyiv

"It's a remarkable turnaround when you consider that the invasion is still taking place and sanctions are being drawn up," said market analyst Craig Erlam at trading platform OANDA.

"With oil trading back below $100 a barrel and gas prices falling after yesterday's surge, it would appear traders are anticipating minimal disruption to Russian exports either directly as a result of the invasion or from sanctions imposed," he added.

"The latter is understandable as the proposed measures so far have underwhelmed, to say the least," Erlam said.

Western nations added to sanctions on Friday, with the United States, European Union and Britain announcing personal sanctions against Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and other senior government officials.

Read | Ukraine says more than 1,000 Russian soldiers killed so far

However, analysts cautioned that the market was prone to further selling over Ukraine, as well as due to uncertainty over how aggressively the Federal Reserve and other central banks will move to counter inflation.

Western sanctions thus far have largely spared the energy sector and have not cut Russia off from the SWIFT international bank transfer system, although officials say those options are still on the table.

"From our vantage point, the rally after the new sanctions were announced suggested to us that the new sanctions weren't harsh enough, as market participants seemingly took comfort in the recognition that nothing was done to restrict Russia's oil and gas exports or its access to the SWIFT financial payments system," said Patrick J. O'Hare at Briefing.com.

Such moves would have sent already high energy prices even higher, causing more pain for consumers.

"The stock market is acting as if it thinks the Russia-Ukraine situation won't become a source of hyper commodity inflation or the basis for an economically-damaging cyberwar," O'Hare added.

New York - Dow: UP 2.5 percent at 34,058.75 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 2.2 percent at 4,384.65 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 1.6 percent at 13,694.62 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 3.9 percent at 7,489.46 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 3.7 percent at 14,567.23 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 3.6 percent at 6,752.43 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 3.7 percent at 3,970.69 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent at 26,476.50 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 22,767.18 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,451.41 (close)

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $97.93 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.3 percent at $91.59 per barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1271 from $1.1192 late Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3410 from $1.3380

Euro/pound: UP at 84.04 pence from 83.65 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 115.56 yen from 115.53 yen

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