CONFLICTS

Russia’s central bank said Thursday that it ordered brokers to stop allowing traders to place bets against Russian shares, a practice known as short-selling.

At a news conference Thursday, the president of the European Commission said its member nations plan to impose their "strongest" and "harshest" economic sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine had people lining up Thursday morning in order to withdraw money from ATMs.

The White House said Wednesday that sanctions levied against Moscow “will not have an impact” on Americans amid the ongoing turmoil in Europe between Russia and Ukraine.

The Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares ETF, Franklin FTSE Russia ETF and iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF each plunged as did the Vaneck Vectors Russia ETF during Wednesday's session.

The rapidly escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia have cast fresh uncertainty on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook and could force central bank officials to take a more nimble approach as they begin raising interest rates for the first time in three years.

An armed clash between Ukraine and Russia, coupled with punishing sanctions for Moscow, could push U.S. stocks toward another major loss, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

Russia President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia will continue to provide an “uninterrupted” supply of natural gas to global markets just hours after Germany halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine has prompted investors to brace for a bad day for Russian, Ukrainian, U.S., and global markets when they reopen on Tuesday, according to a report.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are feeding fears that energy prices could increase even more.

OPEC and its allies agreed to a small, planned increase in crude production amid soaring oil prices, with concerns over supply heightened due to a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Price Futures Group senior analyst Phil Flynn argued that a potential war between Russia and Ukraine could impact oil prices for decades.

Concerns have mounted that Russia’s next move in the continuing threat of a Ukrainian invasion could target the U.S. in a cyberattack – a strategy experts argue is a battlefront already part of how global superpowers engage.

Former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said that President Biden "gave away the farm" by signaling to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his administration has yet to determine a strategy to ward off a full-scale Ukraine invasion.

The Biden administration is continuing to prepare a "range of severe economic measures" to impose on Russia if it further attempts an invasion into Ukraine, with senior officials saying sanctions being considered would have "massive consequences" for Moscow's economy.

President Biden said Monday that European leaders are in "total unanimity" over the approach to the situation with Russia and Ukraine, as concerns heighten over the prospect of military action in the region.