Asian shares slump as Ukraine tensions flare

Asian shares slumped in early trading on Friday, after flaring Ukraine tensions ruined investors' appetite for risk and bolstered the safe-haven yen. Ukraine's president said Russian troops had entered his country in support of pro-Moscow rebels who captured a key coastal town, escalating a five-month-old separatist conflict. The United States on Thursday openly accused Russia of sending combat forces into Ukraine and threatened to tighten economic sanctions, but Washington stopped short of calling Moscow's latest step an invasion. "Risky assets were weaker on rising concerns about Russia-Ukraine, as well as weak data out of the euro area," strategists at Barclays wrote in a note to clients.

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