The major European indices are ending the session with mixed results despite the Russian aggression overtures. The provisional closes are showing:
- German DAX, -0.5%
- France's CAC, -0.2%
- UK's FTSE 100, +0.2%
- Spain's Ibex, -0.1%
- Italy's FTSE MIB -0.1%
The major indices were down more sharply earlier in the session, but recovered most of the declines and moved higher on the day before settling near unchanged levels by the close:
- German DAX was down -2.79% at it's lows and +0.36% it's highs
- France's CAC was down -2.28% it's lows and up 0.68% at its highs
- UK's FTSE 100 was down -1.68% it's lows and up 0.63% at its highest
- Italy's FTSE MIB was down -2.77% at it's lows and up 0.67% it's highs
- Spain's Ibex was down -2.54% it's lows and up 0.74% at its highest
in other markets as European/London traders look to exit:
- Spot gold is trading near unchanged at $1903. It traded as low as $1891.52
- Spot silver is up $0.37 or 1.51% at $24.25
- WTI crude oil futures is trading at $92.31 that's up $2.10
- Bitcoin is trading at $37,787. That is off it's intraday low of $36,368.99. The high for the day reached $38,339.48
The major US indices are taking the Russian news a little harder than the European markets:
- Dow industrial average is -296 points -0.86% at 33785
- S&P is down -29.59 points or -0.68% at 4319.01
- NASDAQ index is down -154 points or -1.14% at 13393.08
- Russell 2000 is down 12.65 points or -0.63% at 1996.62
A snapshot of the forex market continues to show the NZD as the strongest and the CHF as the weakest. The JPY is also weaker on the day as is the USD.
The reaction in the forex market is counterintuitive to a risk off bias from the news.
Typically in times of stress, the flow of funds moves into the safety of the CHF, JPY and USD. The opposite is happening today.
