The next round of talks may take place at the end of this week
Wall Street equities slid on the first day of March as investors continues to express worries about geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukraine, with rallying oil prices adding to inflation concerns. Financial stocks were the biggest losers in the session, with Bank of America down nearly 4% and Wells Fargo off 5.77%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.76%, the S&P 500 shed 1.55%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.59%.
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as oil prices jumped to fresh multi-year highs while market players express worries about the impact of aggressive sanctions against Russia. Of note, the United States banned Russian flights using American airspace on Tuesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.56% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 1.68%. In the upcoming sessions, risk aversion could abate somehow amid the recent reports that the next round of Russia-Ukraine talks may take place at the end of this week.
Meanwhile, the safe-haven dollar index extends the ascent, approaching mid-2020 highs seen at 97.75 last week. Demand for the greenback has been robust these days as Ukraine-related worries keep rising while traders also bet on a rate hike by the Fed this month. In this context, the upcoming ADP employment report, followed by Friday’s NFP jobs data could add to the dollar’s bullishness if the figures exceed expectations.
Against this backdrop, EURUSD keeps losing ground on Wednesday. The pair derailed the 1.1100 figure for the first time since May 2020, now threatening the 1.1080 support zone. Should the pressure persist in the near term, the common currency may challenge the 1.1000 figure. Should risk sentiment improve, the pair can bounce back above 1.1200 in the coming days, but bearish risks keep dominating the market at this point.
