Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the military campaign in Ukraine would continue
US stocks ended their fourth week of losses on Friday as Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine intensified, with shares of financial-services companies leading the way lower. At that, bond yields saw their biggest one-week decline in two years as rallying oil prices along with the prospect of slower economic growth pushed investors into traditionally safer assets such as government bonds. The Dow Jones fell 0.5% on Friday, losing 1.3% for the week. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Nasdaq shed 1.7% ahead of the weekend.
Asian equity markets extended the decline on Monday, alongside US stock index futures. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the military campaign in Ukraine would continue, making investors expect the conflict to last longer than expected. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 2.17% after the country’s Premier Li Keqiang set the annual GDP growth target at 5.5% for 2022, the lowest since 1991. Adding to a downbeat investor sentiment, the IMF warned over the weekend that the global economic impacts of the events in Ukraine would be all the more devastating should the conflict escalate.
European stock markets opened lower on Monday, extending losses as investors continued to rush into assets deemed safer. Of note, the German DAX 30 is now down 20% since the January closing record high. Us stock index futures see solid losses in the pre-market trading as oil prices surged to the fresh highs around $140 per barrel amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Elsewhere, the safe-haven dollar extends the ascent as markets started the new week on a negative tone following the latest developments surrounding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The USD index, which added more than 2% last week, exceeded the 99.00 figure, now targeting the 100.00 psychological level. As such, EURUSD plunged below 1.0900 to see fresh long-term lows around 1.0820 before bouncing marginally in recent trading.
