Oil prices continue to trade over the $100 per barrel mark. Prices first jumped last Thursday when Russia invaded Ukraine, raising fears of supply disruptions in what is already a very tight market. Also, on Monday, Canada announced the ban of Russian oil imports – being the only nation to target Russia’s energy complex directly.
Today, Crude Futures jumped 5.7% to trade at $101.17 per barrel, while Brent Crude added 6.3% to trade at $104.16/barrel. The latter reached $105.79 last week, the highest since 2014. According to Morgan Stanley, the situation in Ukraine introduced a “risk premium in oil prices that is likely to remain in the coming months.”
The Russian Rouble
Not only the oil prices were affected by the latest geopolitical event, but also Russia’s currency. On Monday, the Ruble plunged to a record low after multiple Western nations imposed new sanctions. On the electronic currency trading platform EBS – the Rouble crashed more than 40% against the US Dollar, trading at 120/dollar. It later slightly recovered to 94 Rubles. The currency lost a third of its value so far this year, but the Bank of Russia raised the interest rate to 20% in an emergency move to help trim losses.
Bitcoin
The largest crypto in the world jumped almost 17% this Tuesday, March 1, to $44,511.20. The surge came after last week the cryptocurrencies plunged, as risk assets such as stocks sold off following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ether added 15.2% to $3,022.
Sources: cnbc.com, news.sky.com, reuters.com