Futures fluctuate as traders weigh Ukraine risks
BNN Bloomberg
Stock futures fluctuated as investors assessed the latest geopolitical developments.
Stock futures fluctuated as investors assessed the latest geopolitical developments.
Financial markets have swung with every twist and turn in the standoff between the West and Russia. S&P 500 contracts edged higher, with the US$2.2 trillion options expiration Friday potentially exacerbating market moves. Treasury 10-year yields remained below 2 per cent, and the dollar was little changed. Oil was on pace for its first weekly decline in two months, despite concern over supply disruptions.
The U.S. said Russia has massed as many as 190,000 personnel – including troops, National Guard units and Russian-backed separatists – in and around Ukraine in what it called the most significant military mobilization since World War II. Russia said it has no plans to attack. President Joe Biden will speak with transatlantic leaders. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will also talk to his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin by phone, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Europe next week.
U.S. sovereign debt attracted US$7.4 billion in inflows, the most since the coronavirus pandemic first struck, according to a Bank of America Corp. note citing EPFR Global data for the week through Wednesday. After their worst start to a year in decades, Treasuries are reasserting their haven status and eclipsing the appeal of riskier assets -- a troubling combination for BofA strategists.
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