With conflict still ongoing in Ukraine between native forces and the Russian army, fuel and precious metal prices have all continued to rise in value.

Gold is currently up 1.81% for the week to $1,929.60 per ounce - a gain of $34.31 - showing the demand for safe havens whilst stock markets suffer the turmoil of economic uncertainty. Sanctions from the west have hurt Russia and caused the rouble to plummet, but given Russia's large natural fuel reserves there's likely to be pain suffered domestically for the UK, US, and mainland Europe.

Brent crude is currently at $111.04 per barrel, the highest it has been since July 2014. The USA is promising to release more oil from strategic reserves but this looks likely to have a limited impact, especially considering just how much Russia in conjunction with OPEC produces. The OPEC cartel is to meet today but analysts expect that the group will stick to pre-existing production plans.

Gas prices are also rising internationally, with both British natural gas and Dutch gas increasing by 37% and 29% respectively. The latter set a new record today of €185 per megawatt hour. Russian gas provider Gazprom has vowed to continue supplies to Europe via Ukraine uninterrupted, but it's unknown whether they are working in tandem with the Russian military or not and, if not, the pipeline is potentially at risk from continued warfare.

The market reaction has been drops across the major US exchanges such as the Dow and Nasdaq, and similar losses for the Nikkei in Japan and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong. Russia's main exchange in Moscow has been closed for three days now, with the Russian public also making a run on the banks due to the sharp decline in the value of the rouble. Service providers like Google and Apple have also pulled their support for payments in protest to the conflict - a combination that aims to unsettle any domestic support for the invasion.