Investors were preparing on Saturday for more wild gyrations in asset prices after Western nations announced a harsh set of sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including blocking some banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

The United States, Britain and European Union ratcheted up sanctions against Moscow on Saturday as Russia continued its assault against Ukraine, saying they would block access to the SWIFT international payment system.

The United States on Friday issued new rules that would allow most commercial and financial transactions with Afghanistan while maintaining sanctions against the Taliban, in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian aid and kickstart the paralyzed economy.

US tech giants were under intense pressure to pick a side regarding Ukraine’s invasion, at once facing calls to stand against Moscow’s internationally condemned war but also Kremlin retribution for resistance.

Russian exports of all commodities from oil and metals to grains will be severely disrupted by fresh Western sanctions, dealing a blow to Russia's economy and hurting the West with a spike in prices and inflation, traders and analysts said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could mean less bread on the table in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere in the Arab world where millions already struggle to survive.

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned Friday about the “economic impacts” of the war in Ukraine, a major wheat exporter, which will hurt consumers around the world.

Western executives watched with horror as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine on Thursday. Bank bosses like Frédéric Oudéa of Société Générale and UniCredit’s Andrea Orcel have more to fear than most.

The West has agreed an onslaught of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but resistance from key EU nations fearful of severing their power sources has resulted in them holding off on deploying the “financial nuclear weapon” of banishing Moscow from the SWIFT banking transfer system.

Japan will impose sanctions on Russia targeting semiconductor exports and financial institutions, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday after G7 leaders agreed to punish Moscow economically for invading Ukraine.

Over the three decades since the fall of Soviet Union and the economic chaos that followed in Russia, many of those who became rich needed a safe heaven for their new-found wealth, and London became just that.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw investors scrambling for the safety of gold and the protection of inflation hedges as weeks of brinkmanship came to a head on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to roll out Thursday new steps to boost domestic production of key materials and address supply chain problems that have contributed to soaring prices over the past year.

The price of wheat smashed its previous record high in European trading on Thursday as Russia invaded Ukraine, putting a question mark on the future of exports from two of the world’s biggest producers of the key commodity.

The European Union is unlikely at this stage to take steps to cut Russia off from the SWIFT global interbank payments system as it works on a new package of sanctions against Moscow for its action against Ukraine, several EU sources said.

In July 2020, just a few months after the Covid-19 pandemic started to spiral out of control, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden declared world oil demand may have passed its peak - all but condemning his company’s core business to eventual obscurity.

European Union leaders will impose new sanctions on Russia, freezing its assets, halting its banks' access to European financial markets and targeting "Kremlin interests" over its "barbaric attack" on Ukraine, senior officials said on Thursday.

Global stocks and US bond yields dived on Thursday, while the dollar, gold and oil prices rocketed higher as Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast.

The United Arab Emirates is ploughing money into drones, robots and other unmanned weaponry as autonomous warfare becomes more and more widespread -- including in attacks on the Gulf country by Yemeni rebels.

US consumer confidence fell for the second straight month in February, a survey said Tuesday, as Americans’ feelings about the economy’s present and future health cooled.