Forex Today: Eyes on central bank speakers, Russia-Ukraine headlines

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, February 14:

Safe-haven flows dominated the financial markets ahead of the weekend amid renewed fears over a Russia-Ukraine military conflict and investors stay cautious early Monday. The economic docket will not be featuring any high-impact data releases and the risk perception is likely to remain the primary driver of financial markets. Additionally, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde and St. Louis Fed president James Bullard will be delivering speeches later in the day.

Late Friday, several news outlets reported that Russia was expected to invade Ukraine as soon as this week. Over the weekend, the White House said that the US will respond "swiftly and decisively" to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine. US President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told CNN that an invasion could take place before February 20.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index lost more than 2% on Monday and the Shanghai Composite Index is down more than 1%. US stock index futures trade flat in the early European session and the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield, which lost nearly 6% on Friday, is up 2% at 1.95%. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of six major currencies, is staying relatively quiet near 96.00 after rising 0.5% last week.

Meanwhile, oil prices continue to push higher with the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trading at its highest level since September 2014 at $94.20.

EUR/USD fell sharply late Friday and touched its lowest level in more than a week at 1.1329. The pair is moving sideways in a relatively tight range below 1.1350 early Monday.

GBP/USD is posting small losses below 1.3550 heading into the European session. The UK's Office for National Statistics will release the labour market data on Tuesday.

USD/JPY fell nearly 100 pips on Russia-Ukraine headlines but seems to have steadied above 115.00. Recovering US Treasury bond yields are helping the pair limit its losses.

Gold surged to its strongest level since mid-November at $1,865 on Friday. XAU/USD was last seen consolidating its gains around $1,850.

Bitcoin registered small losses over the weekend after facing heavy selling pressure on Friday but it managed to stay afloat above $40,000. Ethereum moves sideways below $3,000 after closing the previous four days in the negative territory.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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