Headlines:
- Lavrov: Russia will continue its operation in Ukraine
- Next round of Russia-Ukraine talks may start at 1200 GMT - report
- Lavrov: Russia-Ukraine talks should take place on Thursday
- Oil continues to rip higher, Brent closes in on $120
- Euro susceptible to a further drop as technical picture regresses
- ECB accounts note main risk was no longer tighten policy too early but rather too late
- UK February final services PMI 60.5 vs 60.8 prelim
- Eurozone February final services PMI 55.5 vs 55.8 prelim
- Eurozone January PPI +5.2% vs +2.3% m/m expected
- Switzerland February CPI +2.2% vs +1.8% y/y expected
Markets:
- AUD leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 0.6 bps to 1.859%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,930
- WTI up 2.8% to $113.66
- Bitcoin down 1.1% to $43,612
As Russia-Ukraine war clouds continue to hang over markets, the mood today is rather tepid and mixed. The optimistic undertone from yesterday isn't there but there are no signs of broader concerns in the action so far.
European indices are mostly lower, holding light losses while US futures kept fluctuating between minor gains and losses on the session. The fickle mood isn't helped by a lack of direction in the bond market as well today.
In FX, the euro is the laggard as the single currency continues to face a tough time in staying afloat amid the whole Russia-Ukraine saga. The break in EUR/USD below 1.1100 is helping to apply some downside pressure, with other euro pairs also not looking pretty in the form of EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF, and EUR/JPY this week.
The dollar is holding slightly more resilient more mixed on the session, keeping lower against the aussie and franc mostly.
AUD/USD moved up to 0.7323, coming close to test its 200-day moving average and that is what is limiting aussie gains for now.
Elsewhere, gold is continuing to hold up on the day while oil is pulling back a little after a big surge higher ahead of European trading. Brent hit a high of $119.84 and WTI crude a high of $116.57 before retreating back to $116 and $113 levels respectively now but both nearly 3% higher on the day still.
