Stock markets reel, oil price surges after Russia attacks Ukraine
CBSN
Global financial markets plunged and oil prices surged after Russia began its long-anticipated attack on Ukraine.
Dow stock futures fell roughly 800 points late Wednesday as investors pulled back amid concerns a prolonged conflict could push up energy prices, add to inflationary pressures and slow economic growth. S&P 500 futures dropped 2% and tech-heavy Nasdaq contracts sank 2.6%. Asia-Pacific stocks also sold off, with markets in Hong Kong and Sydney sliding 3%, while Tokyo and Seoul sank 2%.
The attack began moments after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had "decided to conduct a special military operation" to protect eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. CBS News correspondents reported hearing loud blasts in the capital city, Kyiv, and in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.