World markets dive, oil soars as Russia invades Ukraine

World markets sank rapidly and oil prices soared on Thursday, in response to Russian troops invading Ukraine.

Germany's DAX index plummeted by more than 3.5% in morning trading in Frankfurt and briefly went under the 14,000 mark, while the FTSE 100 index in London sank by more than 2.5% to settle at around the 7,300 mark.

"Our worst fears have been realized," said portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners in Frankfurt. "There is war raging in Europe."

In Asia, stock markets showed heavy losses after news of the invasion broke.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 benchmark index ended the day down 1.81%, at 25,970.82 points.

The CSI 300 index of the 300 most important companies from mainland China lost 2.03%, to end the day at 4,529.32 points.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 3.6%, at 22,802.23 points.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 2.98% lower, at 6990.63 points.

In Russia itself, the benchmark RTS-Index lost more than a fifth of its value at the start of trading as investors reacted to the invasion.

The rouble currency meanwhile fell to a record low against the US dollar, losing 6% of its value.

Oil prices soar

The Russian central bank announced it would intervene in the market to prevent any further decrease in the rouble's price.

The euro also lost ground against the dollar in Asian trading, falling 0.8%.

Oil prices rose sharply after Russia's attack on Ukraine.

A barrel (159 litres) of North Sea Brent cost more than 100 dollars for the first time since 2014.

It initially jumped to over 103 dollars, about 6% higher than at the start of the morning's trading.

This brings the increase in the Brent price this year to around 30%, after the price doubled last year.

The price of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil jumped a similar amount, hitting nearly 100 dollars in early trading on Thursday.