By Aysu Bicer
ANKARA (AA) – Asian stock markets tumbled on Thursday after Russia launched a military intervention in Ukraine.
All major stock markets in Asia ended the day in red amid growing fears of a full-scale Russian invasion of its eastern neighbor.
The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was down by 2.60%, or 95.41 points, to close at 3,570 points.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange was also in negative territory, slipping by 1.81%, or 478.79 points, to 25,970.
The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, plummeted 3.21%, or 758.72 points, to 22,901.
China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped by 1.70%, or 59.19 points, to close at 3,429, while the Singapore index was down by 116.94 points, or 3.45%, to 3,276.
All commodity prices increased sharply in global markets, including oil, natural gas and gold.
The price of an ounce of gold shot up to nearly $1,950, while Brent oil reached an eight-year high of $100 per barrel and wheat prices climbed by around 6%.