The safe-haven greenback keeps climbing north amid risk aversion
Increased tensions between Ukraine and Russia sent Wall Street stocks lower ahead of the weekend amid widespread risk aversion after Washington said that it was possible that Russian invasion could take place in the coming days. Ukraine-related headlines made investors proceed to a sell-off following mostly flat trading earlier in the session. As such, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.78%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.43%.
Today in Asia, equities were mostly lower as risk sentiment stayed downbeat at the start of a new trading week amid persisting concern about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.23% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.41%. The Kospi in Seoul retreated 1.57% while China’s Shanghai Composite Index shed nearly 1%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up 1.4%.
Similarly, European stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, as market players continued to track tensions in Ukraine despite the Kremlin denying any intention to invade its neighbor. In individual stocks, Swiss chemicals company Clariant fell more than 15% in early trade after delaying its earnings report, citing an investigation into whistleblower allegations about its accounting practices.
In currencies, the safe-haven dollar keeps climbing north amid risk aversion. The USD index regained the 96.00 figure to extend gains to early-February highs around 96.30. As such, EURUSD retreated from last week’s peaks around 1.1500 and was last seen changing hands in the 1.1300 area. In the process, the pair derailed the 20-DMA. Should the 1.1300 level turn into resistance anytime soon, additional losses could lie ahead. The next support now arrives at 1.1270, followed by the 1.1230 region.
