- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
Stocks slump, oil hits 2014 highs on Ukraine conflict fears
Global equities dived Monday after the United States warned that Russia could attack Ukraine within days, while oil briefly hit eight-year peaks on fears of a conflict that would hit supplies.
Frankfurt and Paris stock markets each sank by as much as 3.5 percent in late morning deals, while London lost more than 2.2 percent at one stage.
Asia also nursed heavy losses, mirroring Wall Street's sharp sell-off on Friday.
World oil prices paused after earlier striking their highest levels since 2014 on deepening worries of a conflict sparked by key crude producer Russia.
- Markets 'pummelled' -
"Stock markets are getting pummelled as everyone prepares for a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.
"The threat has been apparent for weeks but the warnings of recent days make clear that diplomatic efforts are not working and there's now a very real risk of an imminent move from the Kremlin."
In the face of uncertainty, investors are dumping riskier assets like equities, while key Russian exports including also gas have been well supported, he added.
Russia's main stock market was down more than four percent while the ruble fell against the dollar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed calls by US counterpart Joe Biden and others to pull back.
Governments have told their citizens to leave Ukraine and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned last week that an invasion could begin "any day now" and would likely start with "a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was preparing to visit Kyiv and Moscow to try to head off the crisis.
"The prospect of war is rarely good for stock markets, and so the new trading week has begun on a bad note across Europe and Asia as investors fear a physical battle between Russia and Ukraine," said AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson.
- $100 oil? -
The crisis comes amid a pick-up in crude demand as economies reopen after the coronavirus pandemic and people return to a more normal life.
In earlier Asian deals, Brent had climbed as high as $96.16 and WTI crude to $94.94 per barrel, stoking renewed concern over elevated inflation.
"Russia is the world's second-largest exporter of crude oil and the largest exporter of natural gas," noted Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
"If Russia invades Ukraine, crude oil and natural gas prices can be expected to surge significantly. In this case, Brent would probably exceed $100 per barrel."
Europe has for months already suffered from soaring natural gas prices, which have fuelled rocketing domestic energy prices and sparked decades-high inflation.
"In the event of a Russia-Ukraine escalation we could be seeing a significant increase in domestic energy prices since much of Europe is heavily reliant on Russian oil and gas supplies," said XTB analyst Walid Koudmani.
"As energy prices have been a key contributor to the recent record levels of inflation, a further increase could spill over into the majority of the economy and potentially hinder an already fragile post-pandemic economic recovery."
- Key figures around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.7 percent at 7,530.62 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 2.7 percent at 15,009.81
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.9 percent at 6,806.70
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 2.9 percent at 4,036.90
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.2 percent at 27,079.59 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 24,556.57 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,428.88 (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.4 percent at 34,738.06 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: FLAT at $94.47 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $93.21 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1310 from $1.1350 late Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3515 from $1.3564
Euro/pound: UP at 83.69 pence from 83.68 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.05 yen from 115.42 yen
O.Johnson--AMWN