Markets shudder, swing sharply following Ukraine invasion

By STAN CHOE
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Markets shuddered worldwide Thursday and swung sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatened to push the high inflation squeezing the global economy even higher. Initially, stocks tumbled as fear coursed through markets and prices surged for oil, wheat and other commodities on worries the conflict would disrupt global supplies. But the moves moderated as the day progressed, particularly after President Joe Biden said he wanted to limit the economic pain for Americans and announced new sanctions that fell short of what some had suggested. The S&P 500 tumbled as much as 2.6% at the open of trading before flipping to a modest gain of 0.3% by the afternoon.