Russia military official say Russian troops prevented Ukrainian “saboteurs” from crossing border, five killed

Joel Frank Independent Analyst

According to Russian state-controlled media citing Russian military officials on Monday, Russian troops and border guards prevented Ukrainian "saboteurs" from breaching the Ukraine/Russian border. Five people who tried to cross the border were killed, the officials said, and Ukrainian armed vehicles were also destroyed in Russia's Rostov region.

Ukrainian military forces subsequently denied claims it had sent saboteurs and called the story fake news. The latest headlines add to fears that Russia is building up a litany of false (as the West and Ukraine claim) pretexts for military action against Ukraine, as NATO leaders continue to warn that a full-scale Russian invasion may be imminent.

Market Reaction

Risk appetite had already been on the back foot, with earlier upside as a result of hopes that a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis could be reached with talks of a Biden/Putin summit later in the week having been faded. The latest news seems to have added fresh downside pressure, with S&P 500 futures dipping to fresh session lows under 4320 and the Stoxx 600 continuing its decline towards 455, now down about 1.2% on the day and eyeing its lowest point of the year at 454.52.

Author

Joel Frank

Independent Analyst

Joel Frank is an economics graduate from the University of Birmingham and has worked as a full-time financial market analyst since 2018, specialising in the coverage of how developments in the global economy impact financial asset

AUD/USD bulls regain control above 0.6950 amid USD retreat

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the previous day's bounce from the weekly low, aiming for 0.7000 in Asia on Friday. The overnight pullback in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar below an 18-month high, which in turn offers some support to the pair. Meanwhile, hawkish RBA expectations also keep the major underpinned.

USD/JPY holds gains near 158.00 after Japan's weak Household Spending data

USD/JPY clings to gains around 158.00 after data showed on Friday that Japan's Household Spending fell for the ninth straight month, undermining the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains depressed as the overnight fall in US bond yields counters a hawkish Fed and geopolitical uncertainties, could cap any downside in the pair.

Gold remains range-bound below $4,200

Gold has given up some ground after an initial bullish attempt to reach weekly highs, returning to below the $4,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The US Dollar’s strong upside momentum, combined with rising US Treasury yields across the curve, seems to keep further gains in the yellow metal under scrutiny.

Week ahead: US CPI, France’s budget crisis and Q3 earnings to set the market tone

The US dollar held relatively strong this week, despite the disappointing US jobs report on October 2, which further decreased the probability of a back-to-back rate hike by the Fed at the upcoming gathering on October 28.

CFTC Report: Euro and Aussie shorts expand amid diverging signals

The week in one sentence: Euro and Australian Dollar shorts deepened in the week to October 6, while Yen longs rebuilt. In addition, Coffee buying continued, and Gold exposure remained elevated despite another price decline. Speculators turned more negative on the Euro, increasing the net exposure to around 99.3K contracts.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?