Here is what you need to know on Monday, March 7:
Markets started the new week on a risk-off tone following the weekend's developments surrounding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Safe-haven assets continue to find demand on Monday and major global stock indexes suffer heavy losses. In the absence of high-tier macroeconomic data releases, investors will keep a close eye on the third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
The US Dollar Index, which gained more than 2% last week, trades at its strongest level since May 2020 and continues to push higher toward 99.00. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury is losing more than 1% near 1.7% and US stock index futures are down between 1.1% and 1.8%.
In a video statement on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that sanctions against Russia were not sufficient. Russia announced that it will hold a temporary ceasefire on Monday and open humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy despite reportedly ignoring ceasefires on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the data from China revealed that imports and exports rose by 15.5% and 16.3%, respectively, on a yearly basis in January.
Bloomberg reported that the US was looking to ban Russian oil imports even if the European allies were to refrain from doing the same. Crude oil prices surged higher in the early Asian session and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was last seen trading at its highest level since September 2008 at $125,60, rising more than 9% on the day. Since the beginning of the month, WTI is already up more than 30%. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund warned that further escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict could cause devastating damage to the global economy.
Gold skyrocketed to its strongest level since August 2020 at $2,000 at the beginning of the week before going into a consolidation phase below $1,990 in the early European session.
EUR/USD opened with a large bearish gap and dropped toward 1.0800. Although the pair managed to stage a rebound, it trades deep in negative territory near 1.0870.
GBP/USD touched a fresh 2022-low of 1.3185 but pared a large portion oıf its losses to steady above 1.3200 in the European morning.
USD/JPY struggles to find direction and continues to move sideways around 115.00 as the JPY holds its ground as a safe haven.
Bitcoin broke below $40,000 on Friday and failed to stage a meaningful recovery over the weekend. BTC/USD is posting small daily losses near $38,000. Ethereum lost more than 4% on Sunday and continues to edge lower toward $2,500 early Monday.