Markets remain in suspense as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued throughout yesterday and into the morning. In what NATO describes as a ‘cold blooded, pre-planned attack’ the rest of the world sits in watch as Russian forces make their way through Ukraine. From reports of missiles and explosions to downed Russian aircraft, yesterday marked the start of what the world hopes to be a very short conflict. Multiple nations have now issued sanctions against Russia with more expected in the coming days.

GBP

The British pound stabilised on Friday, recovering from a two-month low hit in the previous session after investors rushed into safe-haven currencies like the Japanese yen and the US dollar following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

EUR

The euro steadied on Friday after yesterday’s sharp decline after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, unleashing the biggest attack of a European state since World War 2.

USD

With a truly worrying situation playing out we expect markets to move to risk off with safe-haven flows expected to rise. We’ve seen USD strength, gold prices soar to new highs and oil prices skyrocketed and should the conflict continue we don’t expect this to change. Geopolitical news should continue to dominate the market and we expect volatility to persist.

Key announcements

13:30 – USD – Core PCE Price index m/m (expected 0.5%)