Moscow would have its access to financial markets and high-tech goods limited under Western sanctions being prepared in case Russia attacks Ukraine, one of the European Union’s top officials said Saturday. The comments from Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive commission, came as tensions over Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine intensified. U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade the neighboring country. “The Kremlin’s dangerous thinking, which comes straight out of a dark past, may cost Russia a prosperous future,” von der Leyen said Saturday during the annual Munich Security Conference, where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke. Von der Leyen said the EU’s executive arm has developed a “robust and comprehensive package” of financial sanctions with the U.S., U.K. and Canada. “In case that Russia strikes, we will limit the access to financial markets for the Russian economy and (impose) export controls that will stop the possibility for Russia to modernize and diversify its economy,” she added. “And we have a lot of high-tech goods where we have a global dominance, and that are absolutely necessary for Russia and cannot be replaced easily.” Also read: US defense chief: Russia ‘uncoiling and poised to strike’ German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that during a Tuesday meeting with Putin he “made clear that any further violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine will have high costs for Russia, politically, economically and geo-strategically.” “And at the same time, I stressed that diplomacy won’t fail because of us,” Scholz added. “As much diplomacy as possible without being naïve, that is our aspiration, and we are using all channels of communication for that.” Western leaders so far have not specified what precise Russian action would trigger sanctions. A French official who wasn’t authorized to be publicly named and spoke on condition of anonymity after Biden conferred with several counterparts on Friday said they were talking about an invasion of territory currently under the control of the government in Kyiv. “It is in the event of an invasion of this territory that ... the massive sanctions that we are talking about would be triggered,” the official said. Parts of eastern Ukraine are under the control of pro-Russia separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014, the year Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, asked what Russian actions would trigger sanctions, didn’t offer any details after a meeting in Munich with her counterparts from the Group of Seven industrial powers and Ukraine. Also read: Ukraine-Russia crisis: What to know as tension grinds on “A breach of Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty is a breach of Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty,” Baerbock said. “You can’t say that one geographical part is a bit more Ukraine and another is a bit less Ukraine.” She said Western officials have made clear that an actual invasion isn’t the only possible scenario but “are prepared for every situation.” Using a chess analogy, the German minister said, “If you present your next five moves in public, you won’t be particularly successful.”

Asian shares have rebounded from their retreat a day earlier, tracking Wall Street’s recovery from the Federal Reserve’s reminder it will eventually provide less support to markets. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.8% in morning trading to 28,785.24. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.4% to 7,336.30. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 3,260.11. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 28,522.78, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.9% to 3,559.32. Read:WTO talks on Trips waiver from June 30 Although the latest bout of jitters over a possible easing of help from the Federal Reserve and other central banks appears to have passed, analysts said rising coronavirus cases in the region remained a concern. “Much of the region is dealing with renewed waves of COVID-19 infections. These waves, especially in the case of India, Indonesia and some other countries in Southeast Asia, are the most severe yet,” said Venkateswaran Lavanya at Mizuho Bank in Singapore. On Monday, the S&P 500 snapped 1.4% higher, to 4,224.79, recovering nearly three-quarters of its worst weekly loss since February. Oil producers, banks and other companies that were hit particularly hard last week led the way. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8% to 33,876.97 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%, to 14,141.48. Investors are still figuring all the ramifications of the Fed’s forecast that may start raising short-term interest rates by late 2023. That’s earlier than previously thought. The Fed also began talks about slowing programs meant to keep longer-term rates low, an acknowledgment of the strengthening economy and threat of higher inflation. Read:Australia says it’s reached a free trade deal with Britain The market’s immediate reaction to last week’s Fed news was to send stocks lower and interest rates higher. Higher rates would make stock prices, which have been climbing faster than corporate profits, look even more expensive than they do already. But it’s not like the Fed said it will hike rates from their record low of nearly zero anytime soon. “If markets are worried about a march back to more normal monetary and fiscal policy as the economy recovers, it will be a very long march,” Barings chief global strategist Christopher Smart said in a note. In the meantime, support from both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government should continue to help stock prices, even if they do look expensive compared with history, he said. Companies whose profits are the most closely tied to the economy’s strength and inflation were among the market’s strongest on Monday. Hess, Marathon Oil and Devon Energy all rose at least 6.9% as energy stocks rallied with the price of oil. Banks were also strong, with Bank of America up 2.5% and Wells Fargo climbing 3.7%. High-growth companies able to flourish almost regardless of the economy lagged behind in a reversal from last week’s trend, when investors rattled by the Fed piled back into the biggest winners of the pandemic. Amazon slipped 0.9%, and the lagging performance for tech meant the Nasdaq trailed other indexes. Read:Odds of settling US-EU trade rifts? Hope may outrun progress More bumps may be ahead for markets, which had been mostly quiet for weeks before the Fed’s announcement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak before a House subcommittee on Tuesday about the Fed’s response to the pandemic. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude picked up 13 cents to $73.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $1.83 to $73.12 on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 23 cents to $75.13 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 110.39 Japanese yen from 110.31 yen. The euro rose to $1.1918 from $1.1914.

The economic affects of the coronavirus have preceded the spread of the virus itself, with financial markets swinging wildly, companies closing offices or asking employees work from home in affected areas, and throttling air travel across the globe. Following is a brief look at how things are changing in the economy and the workplace today as the outbreak widens.