Russia-Ukraine War
The Russian invasion in Ukraine extends into ninth day, with intense fighting reported in many sectors.
Russians forces seized the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
The fire in a building at the complex raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster and spread alarm across the world capitals before authorities said the fire had been extinguished and US officials confirmed no indication of elevated radiation.
The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine gave some results, as negotiators agreed to the need of humanitarian corridors to help civilians to escape and to deliver medicines and food to the areas where fighting was the fiercest.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy asked for a direct talks with Russian President Putin.
Ukrainian sources announced that the biggest world airplane Antonov-225 was totally destroyed during the Russian attack at the airport Hostomel near the capital Kyiv.
US and UK to impose further sanctions to hit Russian oligarchs.
Markets
Market action remain highly volatile on Friday.
European stocks extend weakness and hit the lowest in over one year on news of fire in the nuclear plant.
The pan-European STOXX600 index on track for the worst weekly fall since the pandemic sparked selloff in March 2020.
German DAX was down around 2% in early trading on Friday, driven mainly by strong fall in auto stocks, which became the worst performer this week among European sectors.
French CAC-40 and UK’s FTSE100 indexes were down nearly 3% in European session on Friday.
EU banking stocks tumbled 4.5%.
Negative outlook was fueled by soaring commodity prices triggered by Western sanctions on Russia and raising concerns about soaring inflation and slowdown in economic growth.
Safe-haven gold price rose on increased concerns that prompted traders into safety.
Oil prices were slightly lower in European session on Friday (WTI around $110 and Brent around $112), taking a breather after Thursday’s spike to new multi-year highs, but remain strongly supported by war uncertainty and consequences of the sanctions imposed to Russia, particularly on the European Union.
The US dollar continues to advance against its major counterparts on strong safe-haven buying.
The Euro slumped across the board in early Friday’s trading and touched psychological 1.10 support against the dollar, driven by fresh risk aversion that pushed stock markets significantly lower.
The GBP USD extends weakness into second day and pressures again pivotal 1.33 support, dragged by worsened outlook and fresh migration into safer assets.