The selling pressure has abated somehow despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine
Following the initial sell-off, Wall Street stocks trimmed intraday losses to finish mixed overnight. Still, the worsening geopolitical crisis makes investors stay nervous, with the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike plans adding to worries. As such, the S&P 500 ended 0.24% lower, the Dow Jones fell 0.49%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.41% as Tesla shares jumped nearly 7.5%. on the negative side, shares of Citigroup fell 4.44% after the bank warned that it could potentially take a hit as it had $5.4 billion in exposure to Russian assets as of the end of December.
Asian stock markets were higher on Tuesday as the selling pressure in the region continued to abate despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. It looks like Asian investors saw some signs of no immediate escalation after talks between Kyiv and Moscow ended with no agreement except to keep talking. As such, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.42% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2%. The Shanghai Composite in China gained 0.77%.
In Europe, equity markets opened slightly lower today despite the overall risk mood looking slightly more positive. According to the latest Ukraine-related developments, the European commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, said they can’t ban Russian gas completely. Meanwhile, Maersk, which is the world’s largest container shipping line, suspends deliveries to and from Russian ports. On the data front, Eurozone’s February final manufacturing PMI arrived at 58.2 versus the preliminary estimate of 58.4.
Meanwhile, the USD index is trading under some pressure below the 97.00 figure on Tuesday as risk sentiment has improved in the global financial markets. The index was last seen struggling for direction around 96.70 after yesterday’s brief rally towards the 97.40 zone. In a wider picture, the escalating geopolitical tensions will continue to support the greenback due to its safe-haven status. EURUSD stays above the 1.1200 figure after yesterday’s bounce but still lacks the momentum to challenge the 1.1250 immediate barrier.
