Major RISK OFF mood in markets as they believe weekend announcements, unlike initial sanctions, will have significant impact. Rouble down 30% at record lows, Russian central bank has doubled a key rate to 20% from 9.5% and is openly buying gold. – Oil futures rallied well over $100/barrel. Safe havens of USD, JPY, Government Bonds and Gold all in demand. EUR, AUD, NZD stocks and yields all lower.
Week Ahead – Will be dominated by news from Ukraine; BoC & RBA policy meetings, month-end today & and a heavy dose of global data releases including GDPs, PMIs, US ADP and NFP data.
- USD up (USDIndex 97.00). USD on bid next resistance 97.40 & 97.67.
- US Yields 10-yr tanked from 1.986% close Friday to 1.90% now.
- Equities – USA500 +95.95pts (+2.24%) 4384 on Friday. US500 FUTS collapsed (-2.82%) to 4260 earlier, back to 4285 now.
- USOil – Topped at $97.10, from under $90.00 on Friday, back to under $94.00 now.
- Gold – Holds over psychological $1900 now, having topped at $1930 earlier.
- Bitcoin broke lower to trade at $38,250.
- FX markets – EURUSD under 1.1185, USDJPY holds 115.50 and Cable trades at 1.3385.
Overnight – JPY data mixed, Ind. production missed (-1.3% vs -0.6%) & Retail sales a tick higher at 1.6%. AUD data also mixed – a big beat for Retail Sales (1.8% vs 0.3% & -4.4% previously).
European Open – The March 10-year Bund future is up 84 ticks at 166.99 and Treasury futures outperforming amid a general flight to safety amid the escalating tensions between the West and Russia that saw Russia’s Putin putting nuclear deterrent forces on high alert after western allies imposed stiff sanctions that included the exclusion of some Russian banks from SWIFT and also targeted Russia’s central bank. The opening of Russia’s stock markets has been postponed to the afternoon. DAX and FTSE 100 futures are down -3.2% and -1.5% respectively. Most Asian markets managed to close higher after a volatile session.
Today – Russian-Ukrainian officials meeting; US Chicago PMI; ECB’s Lagarde, Panetta; Fed’s Bostic; EU’s von der Leyen; China’s Foreign Minister Yi; Earnings ABF, Baidu.
Biggest FX Mover @ (07:30 GMT) EURJPY (-0.80%) Collapsed from Friday’s close over 130.20 to 128.50 lows & trades over 129.00 now. MAs remain aligned lower, MACD signal line & histogram below 0 line, RSI 49.77 & rising, OB zone, H1 ATR 0.367, Daily ATR 1.2850.
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Stuart Cowell
Head Market Analyst
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