The US bond yields and the global stock market fell on Thursday, while dollar prices, oil, and gold prices increased sharply as Russian troops arrived in Ukrainian cities on the black sea. Also, Moscow was planning to launch a massive invasion.
The Russian troops arrived in Odesa in the Ukrainian Black Seaport. Russian news agencies said the Russian forces also landed in the Odesa and Mariupol located in the eastern Ukrainian area part of Donetsk.
According to the reports, the Ukrainska Pravda news website cited an official from the Ukrainian interior ministry official declared. With missiles, the Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian military command centers in Kharkiv and Kyiv.
According to comments reported by Russian news outlets, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Ukrainian soldiers to lay the weapons down and go back home on Thursday. Also, he said the blame for any bloodshed would fall on the conscience “of the Ukrainian government.”
In Ukraine’s Donbas region, president Vladimir Putin approved special military operations.
Several explosions were heard in Kyiv. The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in the early morning hours after the first series of sounds resembling artillery fire. A Reuters witness told the news agency just minutes after Russia announced its military operation.
The comments exacerbated the already bleak sell-off within the Asian trade. Also, the war news pushed down Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the largest index of Asia-Pacific shares. The Australian shares fell more than 3%, Japan shares down more than 3.2%, and MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares down by more than 3.2 percent, while Australian shares were down more than 3 %, and Chinese blue-chip stock index down by 1.3%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei shares 2.4% weaker. The United States futures on the stock market were also down sharply, with Nasdaq Futures 2.8, e-minis down 2.3%, and S&P 500 points weaker.
Chris Weston, the director of research for Pepperstone, said, “when the Russian military forces are moving towards Kyiv city, which is the worst-case scenario. We have a long night ahead to understand how bad this situation gets and what sanctions are issued. Fresh round sanctions are coming up against Putin along with government”.
The war is the bear care or worst-case scenario for the market. Currently, no one is willing to take a money risk in the market, and many sellers are out from the market due to the Russia and Ukraine war news. Hence this market hits very severely.
The Asset market has witnessed high volatility due to the deepening crisis, with the Cboe Volatility Index. This index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, rose more than 55% from the last nine days.
On Wednesday, the Brent crude oil futures high volatile and moving in sharp rises and sharp drops. On Thursday, the Brent crude oil futures jump more than 3.5% to shoot past $100 per barrel. It has happened for the first time since September 2014. The West Texas Intermediate leaped 4.6% to $96.22 per barrel, the highest level since August 2014.
The Spot gold market jumped more than 1.7% to reach its highest level since January 2021
The sharp sell-off in equities came after the US stocks already took a beating on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 1.38%, barely above the level that could have indicated an upward correction. The MSCI World Index, the leading gauge of the equity markets worldwide, has fallen to its lowest level since April 2021.
Many investors are struggling with the possibility of imminent policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve expected at fighting rising inflation. The NAB analysts say that it can be a commodity supply shock.
Investors are also struggling with the possibility of tightening of policy through the US Federal Reserve expected at fighting rising inflation. NAB analysts believe it can be made worse by commodity supply shock.
The immediate geopolitical threats weighed on the United States yields last Thursday and pushed the benchmark US 10-year yield down harshly to 1.8681% from its US closing at 1.977 % on Wednesday. Also, the 2-year US yields fall to 1.5% from the previous closing of 1.6%.
The international flight to safety has boosted dollars, which increased by more than half percent a basket of the major trading partners to 96.715. The European stock index was down by 0.8% from the past 24 hours at $1.1220.
The sell-off spread to the cryptocurrency markets shows bitcoin to fall below $35,000 for the first time within a month. “Markets are now better anticipating the likelihood of something catastrophic occurring. The uncertainty is a hazardous environment for anyone to find themselves in the market.
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Devoted my whole life to words - reading, writing and trying to be original on social media. Got certified in digital marketing - still not cool enough to be an influencer. Finished a master’s degree focused in Literature, Publishing, Mass Media. Hobbies include traveling, reading and hoping that yoga will be the thing to finally teach me some patience. Would like to take over the world at some point, but that’s an optional dream. Maybe modern tech can help me do that?
