S&P500 futures eye 4,300 as risk-appetite returns on likely Russia-Ukraine ceasefire

US equity futures have remained in the grip of bears since February 11, first on mounting tensions over the Russia-Ukraine tussle and later on the escalation in military activities in eastern Ukraine, which further extended to its other cities also.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 index futures hit a low of around 4,100 but later staged a strong reversal as the market participants considered the slump as a value bet to bid, which followed significant longs. This came after the Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov said that, Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to engage in discussions with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with a focus on obtaining a guarantee of neutral status and the promise of no weapons on its territory, as per the Ommcom news.

The announcement presented a ray of hope that the Ukraine crisis might de-escalate soon and the ongoing slaughter of the Ukrainian economy would pause. Not only did this headline support the risk-sensitive assets but also provided grounds to global equities after a massive sell-off.

The S&P500 futures are trading in a narrow range of 4,254-4,284 and are likely to move north towards 4,300 as the risk appetite of the investors improves further.

However, the risk-off impulse can return if retaliation between Russia and Ukraine expands to other cities.

Meanwhile, the US dollar Index (DXY) is struggling to cross 97.00 amid the ongoing profit-booking in the safe-haven assets after a strong rally. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields have slipped near 1.96%.