(Reuters) – European shares fell on Thursday amid concerns about Russia’s sanctions. However, a steady rise in commodity prices helped to boost stocks of oil and mining.

Europe’s index fell 0.3% after modest gains in the opening.

Asian shares stabilized earlier in the day, following Wall Street rebound overnight. This was due to Wall Street Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks that all concerns regarding aggressive interest rates were dispelled.

Europe’s mining index rose 3.4% due to rising aluminium prices and a surge in nickel, which was fueled by fears that metal supply would be affected by sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. [MET/L]

Oil and gas sectors climbed 0.8% to reach a new two-year high as they rose above $118 per barrel. [O/R]

However, investors were cautious about the overall mood as they weighed the effect of the crisis upon inflation and economic growth in Europe. Many European countries are dependent on Russian gas supplies.

BCA analysts stated in a note that “the uncertainty caused by war in Europe and spiking energy prices (especially) are both negative for European growth momentum.” “The Ukraine shock likely delayed any ECB rates hikes up to 2023.”

Following sharp drops earlier this week due in part to worries about Russia’s exposure and receding expectation of rate rises by the European Central Bank, bank stocks edged up 0.4%.

Societe Generale in France (OTC:), a bank that is part of the global Banks Group, stated it can cope with Russia’s exposure of more than 18 billion Euro ($19.97billion). This was one of most direct indications of possible consequences of the crisis.

After falling to an almost one-year high in the prior session, its shares rose 0.7%.

The London Stock Exchange After stating that Russia’s financial sanctions would not have a significant impact on their business, Group (LON) gained 4.6%

Germany’s Lufthansa plunged 6.2% following the announcement by the airline that it couldn’t provide an accurate outlook for 2022 because of the conflict in Ukraine and pandemic.

A survey done before the conflict in Ukraine showed that business activity within the euro area accelerated last month due to increased demand, especially for the dominant service industry.