FTSE 100 sank on Monday as Russia-Ukraine tensions following comments from US officials over the weekend and reports Russia had increased the number of troops on the Ukrainian border.

The FTSE 100 was down 1.9% and the French CAC plummeted 3.4%. The German Dax crashed over 3.1%.

“The prospect of war is rarely good for stock markets, and so the new trading week has begun on a bad note across Europe and Asia as investors fear the alarm clock is about to sound on a physical battle between Russia and Ukraine,” said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.

“Should Russia go to war with Ukraine, there is no telling how long the battle will last, and the damage wrought on the stock market.”

Evraz was the FTSE 100’s biggest faller slumping over 30% to 302p on Monday morning. Evraz has substantial operations in Russia and any sanctions imposed by the West as a result of Russia invading Ukraine could cripple their business.

IAG gave up 6% as investors departed travel shares on fears a war in Ukraine will lead to people cancelling holidays.

Asset managers were also heavily hit as they tracked global equity markets lower. Abrdn fell 4.8% while Schroders and St James’s Place were both 3.6% weaker.

The injection of uncertainty in markets saw gold rise which was enough to send Fresnillo higher by 4% which was the best performance of any stock listed in London.

Despite the FTSE 100 sinking on comments from US officials over the weekend and a warning from the UK’s Defence Minister for UK citizens to flee Ukraine, Russia maintains they will not invade Ukraine.

If there is no invasion in the short term we could see a rebound in markets. Analyst Danni Hewson highlights the benefits of patience through periods of volatility and panic in markets.

“Uncertainty is terrible for investors, and it will take real nerve to stay invested through war, particularly as news headlines are likely to cause panic on the markets. Yet patience has historically been rewarded as time in the markets is better than timing the markets.”

Audioboom shares rose on Monday after reports by Sky News that Amazon and Spotify were preparing rival bids for the podcasting company chichis listed on London’s AIM.

Sky reported Amazon had appointed an investment bank to work on the deal which Sky say could see bids as early as this month.

Audioboom shares traded briefly above 2,150p before the rally faded to trade 11% higher on the day at 1,960p.

Exclusive: The technology giants Amazon and Spotify are considering rival takeover bids for Audioboom, the London-listed podcasting group which has seen revenues and its public market valuation surge amid a boom in audience figures during the pandemic. https://t.co/YL72xLlU1H

— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) February 13, 2022

Audioboom have experienced a significant increase in the number of people listening to podcasts and recorded their maiden annual net profit of approximately $1.4m.

“2021 was a phenomenal year for Audioboom. In my second year leading the business we have delivered an incredible set of results, the culmination of our focus on content expansion and platform development,” said Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom.

Audioboom posted a 39% increase in average global monthly downloads to 113 million in Q4 2021, up from 81.7 million in Q4 2020.

The pandemic has dramatically increased the popularity of podcasts and Audioboom would be a deft acquisition for the tech giants and they seek to grow their audience.

Spotify launched podcasts in 2020 and made big investments in growing their presence in the market by securing a $100m deal with Joe Rogan for exclusive distribution of his Podcast which has featured guests such as Elon Musk. Spotify has splashed out $1bn on Podcast rights and securing shows so AudiBoom’s platform and audience would be the perfect addition to further monetise their investment.

Audioboom has previously received a bid from All Active Asset Capital but appeared dead in the water as All Active shares were delisted.

Shares in Russia-focused mining company Evraz sank on Monday as fears grew Russia was on the verge of invading Ukraine.

Evraz shares were down over 30% in early trade on Monday as investors fled the stock to avoid the impact of any economic consequences from sanctions imposed by the west if Russia invaded Ukraine.

Evraz has operations across Europe and North America but earns the majority of its revenue in Russia from the production of steel.

The company produced 2.9m tonnes of steel in Russia in Q4 2021 and 480,000 tonnes in North America.

Evraz shares fell in a broad market sell off as investors scaled down their risk positions after comments from US officials over the weekend that Russia could begin an invasion at any moment.

“We continue to see signs of Russian escalation, including new forces arriving at the Ukrainian border,” said Jake Sullivan, the US president’s national security adviser.

Russia have denied they are preparing an attack but after the weeks of growing tensions, Monday finally saw sharp moves in markets as investors repositioned portfolios.

“Just as the storm of Covid appeared to be receding, the growing expectation of an invasion of Ukraine is the fresh threat now unnerving investors, with confidence plunging in many parts of the world,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Today’s drop in Evraz shares will be particularly painful for Chelsea-owner Roman Abramovich who owns 29% of the company.