Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
The euro fell to a seven-year low versus the Swiss franc and hit its lowest point in almost two years versus the dollar on Friday as the war in Ukraine lowered expectations for European economic growth.
The European single currency has fallen 2.1 per cent this week and is set for its worst week since April 2020.
It was down 0.5 per cent to $1.10 at 12.50pm UAE time, near its weakest level since May 2020, following news that Russian forces had captured the largest nuclear power plant in Europe after a building at the complex was set ablaze during fighting with Ukrainian defenders.
Authorities later said the fire in a building identified as a training centre had been extinguished. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said there was no indication of elevated radiation levels at the plant.
Versus sterling, the euro hit its weakest level of 82.61 pence since July 2016, and touched its lowest level since January 2015 of 1.0114 against the “safe-haven” Swiss Franc.
Analysts said the effects of surging energy and gas prices will likely undermine European consumption and economic growth prospects.
“The ECB is going to have no alternative but to look through this surge in inflation but the Fed is not going to delay so we will see more monetary divergence again,” said Mike Kelly, Global Head of Asset Allocation & Structured Equities at PineBridge Investments.
“The dollar should be getting a new spring in its step structurally if things do get worse,” he added.
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A Ukrainian serviceman stands near captured Russian tanks, one painted in the colours of the Ukrainian national flag and the other marked with the letter 'Z' in the north of the Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian military vehicles with the letter 'Z' painted on them. Reuters -
French Air Force jets patrol airspace over Poland. Nicolas Tucat / AFP -
The patrol is part of Nato's surveillance system. Photo by Nicolas Tucat / AFP -
The German-flagged 'Seacod' oil tanker moored at Birkenhead Docks near the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the UK. -
A woman holds the hand of a child as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
A young woman clutches a doll as she crosses the border in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
A woman weeps after finding a friend at the border crossing in Medyka. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
People walk with their belongings as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
Ukrainian refugees arrive at Berlin central station, Germany, from Poland on March 4. EPA / Filip Singer -
Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of announcements by western countries to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia. EPA / Filip Singer -
Military vessels docked at the military harbour of Constanta, Romania, on March 4. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP -
A child plays with a pigeon during a protest in San Jose, Costa Rica, against the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP -
Ukrainian citizens in San Jose, Costa Rica, protest against the Russian invasion in Ukraine on March 4. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP -
People fleeing Ukraine wait to board a bus in Palanca Village, Moldova. EPA / Dumitru Doru -
Ukrainians living in Britain join a protest at Trafalgar Square, London. EPA / Andy Rain -
Ludmila Shkarupa, 73, from Ukraine, sits on a chair wrapping herself with a sleeping bag to avoid the cold at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP -
A view shows a thermal power plant destroyed by shelling amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region. Reuters -
People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine use mobile devices in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters -
A local resident walks past the remains of a house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A member of the Ukrainian military guards an evacuation train of women and children who fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin. Getty Images -
A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to women and children that fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin before boarding an evacuation train to Kyiv after heavy fighting overnight forced many to leave their homes. Getty Images -
A person demonstrates outside the Russian embassy in London following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters -
The Danish rescue group Falck A/S has donated 30 ambulances to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, where they will be used by local emergency services. AFP -
An aerial view of the remains of the local house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine rest in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters -
Ukrainian Oleg, who decided to remain in Irpin, comforts his son, Maksim, and his wife, Yana, before the arrival of an evacuation train to the city of Kyiv. EPA -
Yevghen Zbormyrsky, 49, runs in front of his burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP -
People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in Irpin. AFP -
Medical workers tend to a Ukrainian serviceman wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
A mother of a wounded Ukrainian serviceman waits outside his ward in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
Refugees from Ukraine arrive at an assistance point organised in the sports hall of a primary school in Lubycza Krolewska in Poland. EPA -
A member of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces at a checkpoint in Kyiv. Reuters -
People carry their belongings past the debris of last week's combat in Kyiv. AFP -
Shelves in a supermarket stand empty in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. Reuters -
War refugees from Ukraine at the assistance point organised at the Torwar sports hall in Warsaw, Poland. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen, wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, rest outside a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
A 3-year-old boy watches cartoons on a tablet while his mother sews military vests for the Ukrainian army in the western city of Lviv. AFP -
A woman's shock as she stands in front of a house burning after being shelled in Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP -
People fleeing from Ukraine queue to board on a bus at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP -
Ukrainian refugees are tested for Covid-19 in a reception centre in Vienna, Austria. AFP -
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pose with foreign ministers after a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters -
People who fled Ukraine wait for a bus to take them to the train station in Przemysl, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo -
The extraordinary meeting of Nato ministers of foreign affairs about Russian aggression in Ukraine at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPA -
Messages in support of Ukraine on a board in the Ukrainian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. AFP -
Firefighters at a warehouse that caught fire after shelling in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
The wreckage of a missile at a bus terminal in Kyiv. Reuters -
A crater in front of a house damaged by shelling in the village of Hatne. Reuters -
The damaged administrative building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters -
A bright object lands on the grounds of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, during heavy shelling by Russian forces. AP -
Zlata, 3, with her face painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, stands on the Romanian side of the border with Ukraine after fleeing the country. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview with foreign media in Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian artillerymen maintain their position in the Luhansk region. AFP -
Women and children try to board a train bound for Lviv, at a station in Kyiv. AP -
US soldiers on patrol near a military camp in Arlamow, Poland, near the border with Ukraine. AFP -
A woman and child look out the window of a train at a station in Kyiv. AP -
A descendant of Ukrainian immigrants attends Mass at a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Canoas, Brazil. Reuters -
Boxes of donations destined for Ukraine at the St Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Montreal, Canada. AP -
Firefighters battle a blaze at a damaged building in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv after a Russian air raid. AP -
A woman in Frankfurt, Germany, attends a protest against Russia's military offensive in Ukraine. AFP
The US dollar index rose 0.36 per cent to 98.073, after touching its highest level since June 2020 against a basket of peers.
While money markets do not expect interest-rate hikes at the European Central Bank's next meeting, the US Federal Reserve is all but certain to raise interest rates at its March 15-16 meeting for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell repeated his comment that he would back an initial quarter-percentage-point increase in the benchmark rate.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar continued its advance, helped by the commodities boom, rising 0.6 per cent to a four-month high of $0.7370 versus the US dollar.
High energy prices in turn have prevented the Japanese yen from benefiting as much from the safe-haven flows, as Japan is a net importer of energy.
The yen briefly climbed against the dollar when news of the fire emerged, but later gave up those gains and was little changed at 115.37.
