- As traders reviewed the latest events following a wall of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, stocks almost recovered their losses, while bonds soared.
- The S&P 500 recovered most of its earlier losses, but it remains in negative territory for the second month in a row, the longest losing stretch since October 2020. The Nasdaq 100, which is heavily weighted in technology, finished higher. The CBOE Volatility Index increased dramatically.
- Treasury yields increased, bringing two-year yields back to where they were before an inflation data that was sharper than expected earlier this month. The Swiss franc climbed to its highest level versus the euro since 2018, while gold remained near a 13-month high set last week. Oil prices fell as the US and its allies mulled releasing 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks to ease supply concerns. Bitcoin rallied.
- Investors are becoming increasingly concerned that Russia's stocks and bonds may be excluded from important global benchmarks, thus shutting them off from a large portion of the investment-fund business. MSCI said it is talking with clients to better understand the market ramifications of the sanctions, and it may remove the country's assets from our main equity gauges. At the same time, Goldman Sachs warned that Russian debt might be removed from a widely recognized JPMorgan.
- The London-listed shares of Russian firms plummeted after Russia halted stock trading in Moscow on Monday. Depositary receipts for Russian lender Sberbank fell by 74%, the biggest ever, while retailer Magnit fell by 80%. Gazprom, the world's largest gas company, is down 53%. The ruble lost a third of its value in offshore trading at one point as traders battled to price it. At the start of the session, quotes were scarce and fluctuating, and limited liquidity made it difficult to connect buyers and sellers.
- As countries around the world piled on sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin issued countersanctions. As violence raged across the country, the administration in Kyiv announced that citizens were killed by shelling in the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv. Britain's sanctions have been tightened, with ports refusing to service Russian-flagged ships, while Poland has warned that Moscow may try to close a section of Ukraine's border with the EU.