The territorial crisis between Russia and Ukraine continues to be a major cause of stocks around the world declining in addition to inflation concerns making investors turn to safe-haven assets such as government bond purchases.
European Markets Adversely Affected
Europe’s STOXX 600 stock index fell 3.0% while spot gold hit a daily high in 4 months after Russia agreed to hold talks with the West to ease the situation.
Sentiment in European markets was in turmoil, with major regional exchanges falling 2% and European natural gas prices soaring 10% at 81.30 Euros per megawatt per hour.
MSCI’s worldwide stock gauge closed 1.0% lower after reducing severe losses.
Inflation That Continues To Trigger Panic
The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 0.49%, the S&P lost 0.38% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.24 points to break-even levels.
Sanders Morris Harris chairman George Bell said the U.S. stock market continues to be overshadowed by concerns over inflation that could allow the Federal Reserve (Fed) to tighten monetary policy, further advising investors to add 10% to 20% cash in their portfolios.
Moreover, St.Louis Fed president James Bullard who called for a 1 percentage point or 100 basis points increase by July 1 has caused treasury prices to skyrocket.
The 10 -year treasury yield note was up 4 basis points at 1.991%.
The dollar index jumped 0.366% to a 2-week high on concerns over the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Bullard's comments while the Euro remained at $ 1.1305.
The oil market saw a slight improvement after news of impending Russia-Western talks, with crude (US) prices rising $ 2.36 at $ 95.46 a barrel while Brent futures added $ 2.04 at $ 9.48 a barrel.
Gold futures rose 1.5% at $ 1,869.40 an ounce and spot gold hit its highest level since Nov. 16 at $ 1,873.91.
