Rand slides and oil surges as Russia attacks Ukraine

THE rand fell in early morning trade as uncertainty and tensions around the Russia/Ukraine crisis led to a global sell-off.

After strengthening to near R15/dollar after a broadly positive national budget speech on Wednesday afternoon (23 February), the local currency fell by more than 30 cents overnight after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a military assault on Ukraine.

Brent crude futures jumped more than 3.5% to shoot past $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since September 2014.

In response to the military action, US president Joe Biden announced he would impose ‘severe sanctions’ on Russia after condemning what he called an ‘unprovoked and unjustified attack’, Bloomberg reports.

Putin announced in a televised speech early Thursday that he had decided to order a ‘special military operation’ to ‘protect’ the Donbas region of Ukraine, saying the US had crossed the Kremlin’s ‘red line’ by expanding NATO in Eastern Europe.