Asian stocks hold steady, investors catch their breath as Ukraine resists Russian invaders


Global stock markets have fallen in recent days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tightening sanctions by Western allies, which have included cutting off some Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network and limiting Moscow’s ability to deploy its $630 billion in foreign reserves.

High-level talks between Kyiv and Moscow ended last night with no agreement except to continue talks, but Asian markets have stabilized on signs of a lack of agreement. immediate escalation of sanctions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan gained 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.5% in early trading.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.38%, boosted by financial and technology stocks ahead of a central bank meeting, and Chinese blue chip stocks rose 0.5%.

“A lot of what’s happening in the markets is obviously clipped by news around Ukraine and Russia in terms of negotiations, but the big drivers are going to be the response from governments and central banks in terms of metrics. policies,” said Kerry Craig, Sydney-based global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

“Markets will focus on the broader implications of what is going to happen around energy prices, what this means for inflation in some parts of the world,” he added.

Brent crude futures rose 0.63% to $98.59 a barrel on Tuesday. The benchmark hit a seven-year high of $105.79 after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine last week, but markets have calmed down as the US and its allies discuss a coordinated release of crude stocks to mitigate any disruption of oil and gas supplies from Russia. [O/R]

Currency markets were also fairly quiet on Tuesday, with the euro recovering to around $1.12 after falling as low as $1.11210 at one point on Monday.

The Russian ruble stabilized after falling 30% to a record low of 120 per dollar after Western countries and their allies imposed new sanctions on Russia, but following the action of the Russian central bank, it has fallen is exchanged at 102 per dollar.

Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields stood at 1.8629%, gradually recovering from Monday’s slide.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,902 an ounce, after hitting $1,973.96 last week. [GOL/]



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