NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Crude oil futures rose on Monday to their highest levels since 2014 on supply concerns while Wall Street equities fell a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
While investors braced for volatility as they watched for international responses and Putin’s next move, the safe haven U.S. dollar actually lost some ground and European stocks turned positive, while U.S. Treasury yields were rising after the Kremlin said it remained open to diplomacy. Read full storyRead full story
European countries started to announce sanctions against Russia, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warning the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would now be denied certification to begin operating and Britain taking action against Russian banks. U.S. President Joe Biden was due to deliver remarks on the situation at 1300 (1800 GMT). Read full storyRead full story
Europe’s STOXX 600 index .STOXX was essentially flat after falling just under 2% earlier in the day and losing 1.3% on Monday when U.S. markets were closed for a holiday. Read full story
“The bottom line is that fear factor remains elevated and until we get some sort of a clearer picture of what Putin may or may not do, the market is just going to stay in a state of confusion,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
And rising oil prices added to the uncertainty as investors worried about the implications for Federal Reserve policy changes aimed at combatting high inflation.
“If oil prices continue to rise and go above $100 and stay there for sustained period of time that means you’re going to have even higher inflation,” he said.
Brent crude LCOc1 was last at $97.03, up 1.72% on the day, after earlier topping $99 for its highest level since September 2014, reflecting fears that Russia’s energy exports could be disrupted by any conflict. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was last up 2.04% to $92.93 per barrel after earlier hitting $96, its highest level since August 2014.O/R
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 270.99 points, or 0.8%, to 33,808.19, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 23.46 points, or 0.54%, to 4,325.41 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 128.84 points, or 0.95%, to 13,419.23.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 50 countries, was last down 0.6% after earlier falling 0.8%, with the index at levels not seen since Jan. 28.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 1.4% lower.
Spot gold XAU= was last down 0.2% after earlier climbing to $1,913.89, its highest since June. Read full story
A strong rally in U.S. Treasuries, driven by an initial bid in safe-haven assets after Russia ordered troops into breakaway parts of eastern Ukraine, reversed as investors took a more cautious approach to assess further developments.
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR rose 2.1 basis points to 1.951%, after an early morning price jump sent yields below 1.85% at one point. Yields move in the opposite direction to bond prices. Read full story
The dollar index =USD was down 0.212%, with the euro EUR= up 0.32% to $1.1346. The Japanese yen weakened 0.20% versus the greenback to 114.96 per dollar, while sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3595, down 0.02% on the day. Read full story
The Russian rouble RUB= slid to 80.9275 against the U.S. dollar in early Asian trading to its lowest level against the greenback since November 2020, before reversing course. The dollar was last down 0.7% against the rouble.
(Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Devik Jain in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Tom Wilson, Marc Jones in London, Alun John and Xie Yu in Hong Kong, Tom Westbrook in Singapore, Andrew Galbraith in ShanghaiEditing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)
