European gas prices fall to a 7-week low as Russia suffers major setbacks in Ukraine war

Natural gas prices in Europe fell to their lowest level in seven weeks.

The chief commander of the Ukrainian forces said that their forces made significant territorial gains over the weekend after launching a surprise counter-offensive. Russia has suffered its worst losses since abandoning its assault on Kyiv.

The ICE Dutch TTF gas futures for October were down by 7.3% at last check. That's their lowest since hitting 178.25 euros on July 25 and a drop of 40% from the all-time high of .

The war will end earlier than expected, rather than trapping Europe in a conflict with Moscow over sanctions and energy supply, as a result of Russia's setbacks.

The EU's plan to impose a price cap on Russian natural gas is weighing on prices, as is the fact that the EU is filling its gas storage ahead of schedule.

The euro and the British pound saw a bullish signal from the advance of the Ukrainian forces, according to analysts.

Russia is accused of weaponizing its natural gas flows to create an energy crisis in Europe in response to Western sanctions. At a time when Eurozone inflation is running at a record high, benchmark prices for natural gas in Moscow have been completely halted by the Russian government.

It will take some time and further developments to assess whether Ukraine can take full advantage of its gains and this in turn will prompt a new stance from Russia on its energy policy.

Here's how other key assets are doing.

• The euro jumped 0.84% against the dollar to trade at $1.0131, while the pound climbed 0.67% against the greenback. 
• The US dollar index — which measures the buck's performance against a basket of global currencies — slid 0.72% to 108.22 thanks to European currencies' gains.
• Europe's flagship Stoxx 600 index climbed 1.13%, with Frankfurt's DAX 40 leading the rally with a 1.65% gain. Paris's CAC 40 was up 1.30%, while London's FTSE 100 climbed 1.32%.
• US stock futures gained, with S&P 500 futures up 0.52%, Dow futures 0.38% higher and Nasdaq futures rising 0.54%.
• Oil prices climbed despite Ukraine's rapid advance, thanks to demand concerns as China brought in more COVID-19 curbs and after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the upcoming EU embargo on seaborne Russian crude could drive a rally. Brent crude jumped 1.1% to $94.84 a barrel, while WTI crude climbed 1% to $87.66.