- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
Oil and safe havens rally, ruble sinks on Russia sanctions
Oil prices and safe havens surged Monday while the ruble plunged after world powers imposed fresh sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, fanning fears about a possible global energy crisis that could further stoke inflation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send troops across the border last week has sent shivers through trading floors as investors fret over a protracted war in the resource-rich region.
Adding to the unease among investors was news that Putin had put his nuclear forces on a higher alert in reaction to the latest stiff measures.
Equities rallied Friday and oil dipped as dealers assessed that the punishments imposed on Moscow were light enough to not hit its crucial oil exports -- Russia is the world's third-biggest producer -- at a time when supplies are thin and demand is surging.
But the picture was changed at the weekend, when the United States and European Union said they would exclude some Russian banks from the international bank payments system SWIFT and personally targeted Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
They also banned all transactions with Russia's central bank, sending the ruble crashing, with Bloomberg saying it was indicated to be nearly 30 percent down in offshore trading Monday. News that the central bank had hiked interest rates to 20 percent helped pared the unit's losses though it was still around 17 percent down.
"Removing some Russian banks from SWIFT could result in a disruption of oil supplies as buyers and sellers try to figure out how to navigate the new rules," Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, noted.
Crude surged, with WTI climbing towards the $100 mark, while Brent bounced back above that level after slipping on Friday.
Other commodities rallied, with wheat, aluminium and nickel also sharply higher.
However, most equity markets recovered from morning selling as traders focus on a planned meeting of Ukraine and Russian officials on the border with Belarus hoping for an easing of the offensive.
Traders will be closely watching a meeting this week of OPEC and other major producers led by Russia, where they will discuss plans for further output.
The group had agreed previously to increase production gradually each month, but the Ukraine crisis could throw those plans into disarray.
Gold and the yen, go-to assets in times of uncertainty, rose, while the dollar was up against all other currencies.
The euro was under pressure owing to Europe's reliance on Russian energy.
The surge in prices is adding to worries about inflation, which is running at a 40-year high in the United States, with central banks already fighting an uphill battle to get it under control.
The conflict is "likely to boost energy prices significantly, resulting in immediate inflationary effects and a large drag on global growth," Silvia Dall'Angelo, senior economist at Federated Hermes, wrote in a note.
"It's fair to say that the crisis increases the room for central banks' policy mistakes."
On equity markets Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai, Manila, Wellington and Bangkok were all up, though there were some losses in Hong Kong and Singapore.
- Key figures around 0710 GMT -
West Texas Intermediate: UP 5.9 percent at $96.95 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.8 percent at $102.62 per barrel
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 26,526.82 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 22,575.16
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,462.31 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1158 from $1.1271 late Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3367 from $1.3410
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.47 pence from 84.04 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.53 yen from 115.56 yen
New York - Dow: UP 2.5 percent at 34,058.75 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 3.9 percent at 7,489.46 (close)
P.Mira--PC