Headlines:
- DPR says there is a war in Donbass, situation is "critical"
- Hostilities reportedly continue to take place in Donbass
- Kremlin says no concrete plans yet for a Putin-Biden meeting
- Belarus says Russian troops will return to base when there is "objective need" to do so
- UK February flash services PMI 60.8 vs 55.2 expected
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 18 February CHF 725.2 billion vs CHF 725.1 billion prior
- Eurozone February flash services PMI 55.8 vs 51.7 expected
- Germany February flash manufacturing PMI 58.5 vs 59.4 expected
- France February flash services PMI 57.9 vs 53.5 expected
- Germany January PPI +2.2% vs +1.5% m/m expected
Markets:
- CHF leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.5%
- Gold down 0.2% to $1,894.20
- WTI up 0.5% to $91.55
- Bitcoin down 5.9% to $37,620
The mood coming from Asia was more positive as markets took to the possible Biden-Putin meeting in good grace. But that quickly turned after Moscow came out to say that there are "no concrete plans" for such a summit yet, casting doubt on the chances of the meeting happening - even though they did not rule it out.
That took some of the shine off risk trades and by the time more and more headlines involving the hostilities in Donbass crossed, it eventually weighed on market sentiment as risk soured.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.9% early on but are now down 0.5% on the day. Meanwhile, European indices started the session with modest gains only to fall by nearly 1% across the board currently.
In FX, the aussie and kiwi are still showing much resilience for the most part. But the franc took charge with USD/CHF falling from 0.9200 to 0.9170 amid safety flows. In part, there was an exodus in Russian equities, with the RTS down 8%.
EUR/USD trimmed gains from 1.1390 to 1.1350 while AUD/USD also saw its earlier gains ease a little from 0.7215 to 0.7200.
It is going to be a quiet one in North America with holidays in US and Canada, so just be wary of thinner market conditions with the spotlight still shining brightly on the whole Russia-Ukraine situation.
