MILANO – Russia has attacked Ukraine and the financial markets are immediately aware of this. Equity futures in Europe and the US plummet, Asia, which was open when news of troops across the border came, veered heavily. The Moscow Stock Exchange closed all its markets. “Basically there is no market-priced scenario, because it’s impossible to fully discount one,” IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda said. Booomberg. “It’s the worst case scenario. One thing is bad news. Another is bad news without absolutely knowing what it will lead to.”
Ukrainian crisis, those “Russian” 25 billion of Italian banks, ECB in pressure
by Carlotta Scozzari
The price lists of the Asia-Pacific area have reached their lowest since 2020. The Nikkei index of the Tokyo dropped 1.81% to 25,970.82 points, while the Topix left 1.25% on the ground at 1,857.58. Even worse Hong Kong which loses more than 3%, while Shenzhen and -2.2%.
The strongest repercussions are immediately felt on the commodities sector. The Petroleumfirstly: Brent rose 4.56% to $ 101.26 a barrel, its top since September 2014, while WTI rose 4.74% to $ 96.47, a level it hadn’t reached since August 2014. But that’s not all: the prices of cereals and the cost of grain, of which Kiev is one of the main producing and exporting countries, rises by 5.90%. But soy (+ 2.87%), corn (+ 5.47%) and oats (+ 4.81%) also increased. The quotations of thealuminum they passed their 2008 peak and approached the $ 3,400 per ton mark to $ 3,388. Silver was also up above $ 25 an ounce (+ 2%) and platinum at $ 1,105 (+ 1%).
The corn-risk on Italian stables: why the crisis in Ukraine is shaking farmers
by Federico Formica
Among currencies, the ruble collapses after the US president, Joe Biden, promised “severe sanctions” against Moscow. With trading on the Russian market suspended, the Moscow currency is losing 7.8% against the dollar, with which it is now trading close to 90 (88.7 rubles for 1 dollar). The decline against the euro stood at 7.5% to 99.8. Meanwhile, the single currency is falling against the dollar: it loses 0.54% to 1.1246 against the American currency. The exchange rate against the yen also fell sharply to 128.79 (-1%). The sharp decline in the Bitcoinwhich has been suffering from Ukrainian tension for days: the cryptocurrency loses 8% to 34,778 dollars.
As often happens on these occasions, capital is directed towards “safe-haven” assets: in fact, the prices of Treasuries rise (and consequently the yields of US government bonds fall below 1.9%), the yen rises and also They.