Asian stock markets plunged and oil prices spiked after Russian President Putin said his country would take military action in Ukraine.
The market benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul fell. Hong Kong and Sydney lost a lot of money.
Oil prices went up more than $4 because of anxiety about Russian supplies. The ruble fell against the dollar.
The future for Germany's DAX lost more than 4% as U.S. futures were also sharply lower.
Washington had predicted that Putin would make a case for an invasion to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. There were loud explosions in the areas of Ukraine where Putin spoke.
President Joe Biden denounced the attack as unprovoked and unjust, and said Moscow would be held accountable, which many took to mean Washington and its allies would impose additional sanctions. Putin accused them of ignoring Russia's demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a report that the relief rally had quickly reversed course.
The S&P 500 index fell to an eight-month low after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked for military assistance. Moscow sent soldiers to some areas after recognizing them as independent.
Washington, Britain, Japan, and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian banks. Russia could be barred from the global system for bank transactions.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 3.1% and the Nikkei in Tokyo fell 2%. The index was down by 0.9%.
If supplies from Russia are disrupted, Asian economies that need imported oil might be hit with higher prices.
The Kospi in South Korea lost 2.5% to 2,649.29 and the S&P-ASX 200 in Australia fell 3.0% to 6,980.80.
Southeast Asian markets fell as well.
The S&P 500 fell to 4,225. It was 11.9% below its Jan. 3 record, or a decline of more than 10% from its latest peak.
The S&P 500 fell more than 85%. Tech companies are weighing down the index the most.
Apple and Microsoft led the losses in the technology sector of the index. The index was 18.8% below its November 2021, high.
The average fell for the second day in a row.
The Federal Reserve's plans to try to cool inflation by withdrawing ultra-low interest rates and other stimuli that boosted share prices made investors uneasy.
Facebook parent Meta is down 41.4% since the start of the year, while Apple and Alphabet are both down 12.9%.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude jumped $4.36 to $96.46 per barrel in electronic trading. The contract was down 25 cents to $92.10 on Wednesday. In London, the price for international oils was up $4.32 to $98.37 per barrel. The previous session it lost 20 cents.
The dollar fell to 114.56 from 114.98. The euro dropped to $1.1211.
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