Asia’s major markets were hit hard as Russia continued its assault in Ukraine and the Hang Seng plunged nearly 4% and Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 3%

Tokyo and Hong Kong led the losses across Asia as wheat, metals and oil prices continued to spiral and gold rose too

Many of the world's largest crypto exchanges – including Binance, Kraken and Coinbase – have refused to ban Russian clients raising fears of a sanctions backdoor

Fed chief Jerome Powell soothed concerns that officials could announce an aggressive 50-basis-point rate lift, while oil rose close to $120

Capital Economics’ Mark Williams says China is unlikely to attempt to bale out Russia fearing it could become the target of sanctions itself

Oil prices continue to rocket following Russia’s invasion and in afternoon Asian trade Brent rose as high as $113.02 and WTI peaked at $111.50

China has become Russia's biggest export destination since sanctions were first imposed in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea

China is Russia's largest coal customer but importers are struggling to secure financing from banks because of Ukraine sanctions fears

Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Wellington all rose more than 2% as the dust settled on the West’s widespread sanctions against Russia

Asia investors’ mood was lifted by the promise of talks between Russia and Ukraine but the risk of extended conflict – and its impact on the global economy – remains

Oil, grains rise; Palladium prices surge, gold climbs; Aluminium at record-high; Nickel up on Russian supply worries; Fears of food inflation as wheat, corn, edible oil prices rally

Oil giant BP says it will exit its Rosneft stake worth $25 billion. Meanwhile, leases on over half the 980 jets in Russia may be severed by foreign firms because of sanctions.