Headlines:
- Russia says will continue operations in Ukraine until it achieves its goal
- Maersk suspends deliveries to and from Russian ports
- EU's Vestager says can't ban Russian gas completely
- Nord Stream 2 owner reportedly considers insolvency after pipeline halt, sanctions
- 10-year German bund yields return to negative territory after a month
- 10-year Treasury yields fall to fresh one-month low
- OPEC+ said to be likely to stick with existing policy in this week's meeting
- Eurozone February final manufacturing PMI 58.2 vs 58.4 prelim
- UK February final manufacturing PMI 58.0 vs 57.3 prelim
- Saxony February CPI +4.9% vs +4.8% y/y prior
Markets:
- JPY leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.6%
- US 10-year yields down 10 bps tp 1.735%
- Gold up 0.7% to $1,921
- WTI up 4.6% to $100.10
- Bitcoin up 6.5% to $44,346
The session started off with a calmer mood as risk tilted slightly more positive only to turn around as anxiety started to creep up again. There is still a sense of apprehension when it comes to Russia-Ukraine tensions and that is pretty much what it is right now, with a lack of developments so far this week.
As the siege on Kyiv becomes more protracted, the fear is that Russia will react more adversely with its back pushed up against the wall.
S&P 500 futures turned a 0.6% gain to a 0.6% drop now. Meanwhile, 10-year Treasury yields fell from 1.86% to below 1.74%.
In turn, that spurred the yen with USD/JPY slipping from 115.05 to 114.70-80 levels. The euro also declined as a result in a push from 1.1220 to 1.1165 and holding near the lows currently.
The aussie and kiwi also erased earlier gains with AUD/USD falling from 0.7285 to 0.7250 and NZD/USD down from 0.6790 to 0.6765 as risk sentiment looks a bit more nervous ahead of US trading.
Elsewhere, gold benefited from the drop in rates with the yellow metal climbing up from $1,905 to $1,926 and oil prices continue to soar as well with Brent hitting above $103 and WTI crude eclipsing the $100 level once again.
