Forex Today: Unstoppable chaos fuels safe-haven assets, commodities
What you need to take care of on Wednesday, March 2:
Eastern Europe developments continue to lead financial markets. Safe-haven assets turned higher mid-European morning, as Russia escalated its attacks on Ukraine, while President Vladimir Putin said that the invasion would continue until he reaches his goal.
Usually neutral countries are joining global efforts to stop Russia. Switzerland and Finland, among others, are either sending armour to Ukraine or joining the financial blackout to Moscow.
Meanwhile, the next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place on Wednesday. In the first round of talks on Monday, Russia allegedly demanded Ukraine commit to paper its off-bloc status at the parliamentary level and organize a referendum on this matter. Additionally, Moscow wants Kyiv to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and drop its demand that Crimea should be returned to Ukraine. Ukraine, on the other hand, demanded a ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.
By the end of the day, Putin issued a directive banning foreign currency shipments from Russia in amounts greater than $10,000 beginning on March 2.
The American Dollar is up against most of its major rivals, particularly European ones. The EUR/USD pair fell to its lowest since June 2020 and currently trades at around 1.1130 while GBP/USD hovers around 1.3320.
The AUD/USD pair flirted with 0.7300 before trimming intraday gains, ending the day little changed at around 0.7250. The USD/CAD pair edged higher amid falling equities and ignored record crude oil prices, settling around 1.2735.
The black gold soared to its highest in seven years amid fears the Russian war would affect supply. WTI traded as high as $106.76 a barrel before pulling back to currently changing hands at $103.60.
Gold Prices benefited from the risk-averse environment and surged beyond $1,940 a troy ounce, holding on to most of its gains by the US close.
Asian equities edged higher, but European indexes fell, while US ones plummeted. Demand for government bonds soared, with the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note plunging sub-1.70%.
One of the most interesting developments is that money markets are removing bets on aggressive rate hikes amid new uncertainty coming from the war front.
US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell will testify on the Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report before the House Financial Services Committee.
Like this article? Help us with some feedback by answering this survey:
Author
Valeria Bednarik
FXStreet
Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.
