European stock market indexes fell significantly during yesterday's session. The STOXX Europe 600 closed in negative territory, losing 2.4%. The DAX fell by 3.85, the CAC 40 decreased by 3.94%, the FTSE 100 declined by 1.72%. In Spain, the IBEX 35 lost 3.4%, while the Italian FTSE MIB slid down by 4.1%.
Investors closely follow the war between Russia and Ukraine. Negotiations between two sides, which were held in Belarus on February 28, failed to reach an agreement. A second round of talks is expected this week.
Russia claims it would continue its "special military operation" in Ukraine until all its objectives are achieved. Yesterday, a Russian missile strike hit the television tower in Kyiv. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it hit military objects used by Ukraine to wage information warfare against Russia.
The EU has approved the plan to freeze assets of the Russian central bank. Furthermore, several Russian banks were disconnected from SWIFT. The US Treasury Department blacklisted Russian banks, banning all transactions with them.
On the STOXX 600, the biggest losers of the session were Polymetal International PLC (-26.3%), Renault (-11.2%), Commerzbank (-11%), and Ryanair (-10.1%).
Shares of TotalEnergies lost 2.7%, as the company ceased operations in Russia. The French company made significant investments in the Russian energy sectors.
Beiersdorf AG gained 3.2%, thanks to rising profits in 2021 that exceeded expectations.
Stocks of German defense industry companies are on the rise, after German chancellor Scholz announced Germany would spend €100 billion on modernizing the Bundeswehr. Rheinmetall and BAE Systems went up by 18% and 4% respectively.
Soaring oil prices helped push up stocks of oil producers. Aker BP advanced by 8.3%, while Equinor gained 7.6%.
