- 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 soars, ruble dives on fallout from Russia sanctions
Oil prices surged Monday while the ruble collapsed and global stocks mostly retreated after world powers imposed new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Western powers added to the growing litany of penalties on Moscow, with the United States and Canada banning all transactions with Russia's central bank and the European Union adding more close allies of President Vladimir Putin to its sanctions blacklist.
Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out conditions for ending his invasion of Ukraine in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, while the United Nations General Assembly began a special emergency session to discuss whether to condemn Russia's invasion of its neighbor.
Brent crude again topped $100 per barrel as oil prices reached highs not seen since 2014.
The news, alongside sharp gains for aluminium, nickel, corn and wheat -- commodities that Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers of -- sparked renewed concern over rampant inflation.
"Russia's energy supplies are very much at risk, either due to being withheld by Russia as a weapon or swiped off the market due to sanctions," Louise Dickson, senior oil market analyst at Rystad Energy, said in a note.
Traders will closely watch a meeting this week of OPEC and other major oil producers led by Russia, where they will discuss output plans.
The Russian ruble crashed to a record low as sanctions imposed by the West over the weekend had an immediate impact in Moscow, forcing the central bank to more than double its key interest rate to 20 percent.
Putin also announced emergency measures intended to prop up the ruble, including banning residents from transferring money abroad.
- Banking shares slump -
Wall Street stocks began the day firmly in the red, and though they staged a partial recovery, the Dow and S&P 500 had retreated by the close while the Nasdaq scored modest gains.
"It is nearly impossible to be aggressively bullish given the geopolitical uncertainties and continued upward pressures with inflation," said Oanda's Edward Moya.
European stocks also closed in the red with London losing 0.4 percent, while Frankfurt and Paris shed 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
The hardest-hit stocks included giant European banks, which tanked in the wake of the latest measures on Russia.
In Paris, Societe Generale slumped 10.4 percent, BNP Paribas shed 8.2 percent and Credit Agricole lost 5.5 percent.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank was the biggest loser with a drop of 8.5 percent.
The European subsidiary of Russia's state-owned Sberbank is meanwhile facing bankruptcy in the wake of the sanctions, the European Central Bank said on Monday.
Frightened customers of Sberbank branches outside Russia were seen lining up to withdraw cash on Monday.
London-listed shares in Russian metal giants Polymetal and Evraz took another battering, collapsing by 52 percent and 27 percent respectively at one point.
Monday also saw British energy giant BP dive almost 6.0 percent after deciding to exit Russia.
- Key figures around 2030 GMT -
Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.1 percent at $100.99 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.5 percent at $95.72 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 33,892.60 (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,373.94 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.4 percent at 13,751.40 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,458.25 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 14,461.02 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.4 percent at 6,658.83 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,924.23 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 26,526.82 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 22,713.02 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,462.31 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1220 from $1.1268 late Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3418 from $1.3409
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.59 pence from 84.03 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 114.93 yen from 115.55 yen
V.F.Barreira--PC