Financial Markets Stabilize as Fears Around Russia-Ukraine Invasion Subsides

As of Friday, the financial markets appeared to have stabilized, following the sharp sell-off recorded sponsored by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. US, Asian, and European equity indexes closed higher on Friday, while commodities like WTI oil and gold closed the day with minor losses, indicating revived investor risk appetite.

In the currency sector, the US dollar fell dramatically with the loss of uncertainty in the market following the invasion, while risk-loving currencies like the Aussie and the Kiwi soared.

In the Asian market, Japanese Nikkei closed the week up by 1.95%, while Hong Kong HSI fell by 0.59%. Meanwhile, Singapore’s Strait Times closed the week with a 0.40% gain, while the Japan 10-year JGB yield jumped 0.021 to 0.208.

In the American markets, the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all had favorable trading sessions on Friday with +1.64%, +2.24%, and 2.87%, respectively.

In New Zealand, retail sales data jumped by 8.6% (QoQ) in Q4 2021, a significant leap from the market forecast of 6.2% (QoQ). Also, Ex-auto sales climbed by 6.8% (QoQ), 1.3% above the market forecast of 5.5% (QoQ).

Meanwhile, Tokyo’s CPI core jumped from 0.2% (YoY) to 0.5% (YoY) in February, ten basis points above the market forecast of 0.5% (YoY).

Financial Markets to Be Dictated by Economic Docket this Week

Moving forward, the economic data docket for this new week holds some crucial market-moving releases, including Australia’s Retail Sale (MoM), Australia’s RBI Interest Rate Decision for March, China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI, America’s Non-Farm Payrolls and Unemployment data, Germany’s Unemployment Change, to mention a few. Market participants will focus on these releases for near-term price action cues.

However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has the market in a chokehold and holds a significant impact of near-term price action, giving macroeconomic data a backseat role in the coming week.