Although less dependent on Russian gas, the uncertainty has also hit British currency markets with the pound down to 1.34 to the dollar compared to 1.36 at the start of the week.

Matthew Ryan, Senior Market Analyst at Ebury, commented: "We expect risk-off trading to dominate the narrative in (Foreign Exchange) for a little while yet.

"The Japanese yen and US dollar are likely to receive additional support in the immediate-term, as tends to be the case during periods of worsening sentiment.

"We also see less of an impact of the crisis on Federal Reserve policy than we do for the European Central Bank, which may weigh further on EUR/USD."

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