Headlines:
- Oil drop intensifies, down 8% on the day
- Ukraine presidential advisor says Russian forces not currently trying to take Kyiv
- China refutes claim that Russia had asked Beijing for military help
- Tokyo reportedly to not request extension of COVID-19 measures
- Shanghai not under lockdown, no need to do so for now - state media
- Germany March ZEW survey current conditions -21.4 vs -22.5 expected
- UK February jobless claims change -48.1k vs -31.9k prior
Markets:
- EUR leads, CAD and CHF lag on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 1.8 bps to 2.124%
- Gold down 1.3% to $1,925
- WTI down 8% to $94.50
- Bitcoin down 0.2% to $38,620
As Russia-Ukraine talks continue to play out, markets are slowly fading the risks but there are still some mixed undertones as we await the Fed decision tomorrow.
Oil is the biggest loser as it is also adversely impacted from China's lockdown and battle against COVID-19. Both WTI and Brent hit 8% losses and are both trading under $100 again today.
Elsewhere, equities are looking sluggish with European indices seeing a bit of a drag but off earlier lows at least. US futures are little changed and bouncing around without much direction on the session.
Bond yields are holding lower, backing away from multi-year highs with traders awaiting the Fed.
In FX, the dollar is slightly more sluggish as it sits lower against the euro and pound most notably. EUR/USD moved up from 1.0970 to 1.1020 before sticking closer to 1.1000.
USD/JPY is holding lower by 0.2% just below 118.00 after the low earlier hit close to 117.70.
Besides the drop in oil and gold, it's hard to make connections elsewhere as the market is also caught in a bind ahead of the Fed tomorrow. That will keep a lid on things unless we get some notable developments in the Russia-Ukraine saga.