Russia-Ukraine war clouds continue to cast a shadow over markets but we're not seeing as much pessimism as we did at the opening stages of the week yesterday at least.
Sure, there is still some sense of apprehension and anxiety but we're not seeing an overbearingly negative tone. The real fear here is that Russia is being pushed to the point with its back against the wall and they might very well hit back hard.
Talks yesterday failed to achieve much but there is hope as we may see another round in the days ahead. In the meantime, don't expect the hostilities in Kyiv to ease as the push and pull on the ground and on sanctions continue.
For now, markets are breathing things in with a relatively calmer mood. EUR/USD is down 0.2% to 1.1200 while USD/JPY is steady around 115.00 as Treasury yields also keep steadier following the drop yesterday. 10-year yields are up 2.2 bps to 1.86%.
Meanwhile, the aussie and kiwi are still showing much resilience and keeping little changed so far at 0.7260 and 0.6760 against the dollar respectively. Both currencies have recovered well from their opening gap lower yesterday.
Elsewhere, equities are also fairly guarded with S&P 500 futures down 0.1% while in the commodities space, gold is down just slightly by 0.1% to $1,905 and WTI crude is up 0.9% to $96.60.