Russia-Ukraine Crisis Sentiment Sends Safe-Havens Spiralling

Amid the worsening tensions from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, as more nations sanction Russia, the EUR/USD pair began today’s trading session lower than its Friday close of 1.1273 to open in the Asian session at 1.1122.

Market participants’ reaction to the ongoing geopolitical crisis thwarted demand for safe-haven assets and currencies like the US dollar, the Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc, as their riskier counterparts soared.

Over the weekend, world powers like the US, UK, EU, and Canada unanimously agreed to “prevent the Russian central bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions,” according to the Guardian.

The goal behind the sanctions is to starve the Russian government by crippling its assets. Meanwhile, the US imposed some additional sanctions on the European giant’s top ten financial institutions while also freezing the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian ministers. Additionally, wealthy Russians (oligarchs) who share ties with Putin suffered a similar fate alongside a travel ban.

In other news, the Eurozone economic docket on Monday featured inflation data from Spain, with the country Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for February coming in at 7.5% y/y better than the 6.8% estimate. Meanwhile, the inflation rate jumped to 7.4% y/y higher than the 6.1% recorded in January.

Inflation Risks from Russia-Ukraine Crisis Yet to Be Felt in the Eurozone

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently warned that the Ukraine crisis could extend some downside risks to the Eurozone, adding that upside inflation risks have not begun to be felt. Commenting on the upcoming ECB meeting in March, analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman noted that they “expect the bank to confirm that PEPP will end as scheduled, we believe Lagarde and company will try to maintain maximum optionality to see how the situation unfolds.”

Meanwhile, US Fed speakers Bullard and Waller maintained their hawkish stances and favored a 50 basis point rate hike in the FOMC meeting scheduled for Friday.