Traders were thrown in yet another limbo on Monday following President Putin’s remarks recognizing the independence of the Ukraine breakaway regions. The Dow Futures dropped over 300 points while the NASDAQ futures dipped over 250 points. In a move to defy any confidence in the stock market, the U.S. Treasury futures rose with the U.S. 30-year futures having the highest upsurge of 0.55%.
Hopes on Putin’s welcoming diplomatic agreements are dwindling following his statement concerning the sovereignty of Ukraine over Donetsk and Luhansk. “Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood,” he said having ordered troops into the two regions to act as “peacekeepers” in the regions.
President Biden responded immediately by signing an executive order severing the two rebel regions from economic benefits from any U.S. persons namely; new investments, importation, exportation and financing. The order stated that its purpose was to repudiate Russia from profiting given its violations to international laws. Following the E.O., Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “We’re going to take additional sanctions actions tomorrow…that’s how we have handled this until now and that is how we will continue to handle things going forward.”
Putin disparaged the sanctions terming them as blackmail and positively acknowledged that his move on Ukraine would most likely lead to a surge of military threats towards Russia. “I pay special attention to the fact that the danger of a sudden strike against our country will increase many times over… I want to say clearly and directly that in the current situation, when our proposals for an equal dialogue on fundamental issues have actually remained unanswered by the United States and NATO, when the level of threats to our country is increasing significantly, Russia has every right to take retaliatory measures to ensure its own security. That is exactly what we will do,” he said.
President Zelensky moved to address the Ukrainians, indicating his ardent stand in protecting the Ukrainian territorial integrity. He said, ““We are on our land. We don’t fear anything or anyone. We don’t owe anything to anyone. And we won’t give anything up.”
Does Moscow have vested interests on Donetsk and Luhansk? Here are 4 economic facts about the 2 regions
- Population: over 3.5 million people
- Economic activity: Donetsk is a mining and steel-producing hub while Luhansk is also a coal mining hub with large coal reserves
- Location: near the eastern border with Russia
- Financing: heavy dependence on Moscow
On Friday, all the U.S. Treasuries had a decline on their yields similar to the performance of DJIA, NASDAQ and S&P 500, which also plunged further down. More companies are expected to report on their earnings as the market comes to a close on the earnings report season. On the look-out this week:
- Tuesday: Consumer confidence index
- Thursday: Gross domestic product revision (SAAR)
- Friday: Inflation reports
Friday Highlights
