Headlines:
- Russian military reportedly has blocked Kyiv from the west side
- Gunfire reported near government district in Kyiv
- Air raid sirens reportedly going off in Kyiv
- Russian forces reportedly have entered Obolon district in Kyiv
- Ukraine president Zelensky calls on Putin to sit down for talks
- Zelensky: Europe can still stop Russian aggression if it acts swiftly
- Ukraine president Zelensky: Sanctions imposed on Russia are not enough
- Kremlin: Russia will impose retaliatory sanctions
- Lavrov: Russia does not see possibility to recognise current Ukrainian govt as democratic
- Russia bans UK airplanes from landing or crossing its airspace
- France February preliminary CPI +3.6% vs +2.9% y/y prior
- France Q4 final GDP +0.7% vs +0.7% q/q prelim
- Germany Q4 final GDP -0.3% vs -0.7% q/q prelim
Markets:
- AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
- US 10-year yields up 1.9 bps to 1.991%
- Gold flat at $1,903.66
- WTI up 0.7% to $93.42
- Bitcoin up 1.3% to $38,887
It's all about the siege in Kyiv at the moment as Russia looks to take over the Ukraine capital and conceptualise their endgame.
The nerves in the market are still settling in with equities in a mixed mood. US futures dropped by over 1% early on but have recovered well to be down slightly as US traders start to grab their morning coffee.
European indices are posting strong gains on the session but that owes to a catch up to the rebound in Wall Street yesterday. Most regional indices are holding near 2% gains currently.
In FX, the mood continues to exude much calm with the aussie and kiwi leading the way once again. Both currencies have been surprisingly resilient throughout this whole ordeal and we're seeing more of that today.
AUD/USD is up 0.5% to 0.7200 with AUD/JPY holding above 83.00 once again and looking for a more meaningful technical breakout. NZD/USD is also up 0.4% to 0.6717, keeping near the highs for the day currently.
Elsewhere, the dollar firmed slightly against the euro but has given up that advance with risk sentiment still dancing to the Russia-Ukraine war drums. EUR/USD fell from 1.1210 to 1.1170 before recovering back to 1.1200 levels now.
As we approach the weekend, it will come down to how markets will digest and move on from the latest developments as we potentially near the end of a sombre reality in which Russia takes control of Ukraine with the world just watching.
