- The S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq Composite posted losses in a risk-off market mood, courtesy of the Russian-Ukrainian fights.
- Russia insists on receiving natural gas payments in rubles, threatens to block procedures in euros/dollars.
- Gold and the dollar are rising, while US Treasury yields and oil are trading in the red.
US stocks are posting losses in the American session as Wall Street is about to end March on a lower note. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are down 0.30% to 0.43%, each at 4,576.32, 35,075.94 and 15,014.01 respectively.
A negative market mood weighed on US stocks.
A risk-averse mood in the market courtesy of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the ongoing fight between Russia and Ukraine continue to grab headlines. Russian President Putin signed a decree establishing natural gas trade rules, such as payments in rubles, new procedures in euros and US dollars could also be blocked. If the demands are not met, the current contracts will come to a standstill.
Meanwhile, the dollar rose in the headline. In fact, it is holding firm, as the US Dollar Index shows, rising a further 0.43% to 98.256. By contrast, US Treasury yields continue to fall for the second day in a row, down four basis points to 2,316%.
Apart from this, utilities, consumer staples and real estate are the leaders of the trading session, rising 0.69%, 0.34% and 0.27%. The laggards are Communication Services, Financials and Consumer Discretionary, which were down 1.14%, 1.02% and 0.78%.
In the commodity complex, the US crude oil benchmark WTI is down 5.27%, trading at $101.73 BPD, weighed down by news that the Biden administration would tap 1 million BPD of SPR’s oil reserves for a period of six months. Precious metals such as gold (XAU/USD) are up 0.61% and trading at $1,944.55 a troy ounce, fueled by risk-off sentiment.
The US economic docket featured the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge, February core PCE, rising 5.4% year-on-year, down from the 5.5% estimate, while US initial jobless claims .for the week ending March 26 they increased by 202,000, higher than the 197,000 expected.
On Friday, April 1, the US Department of Labor will release the Non-Farm Payrolls report for March. Although the NFP is one of the most important economic indicators, now that the Fed focuses on inflation, it has taken a backseat, except for average hourly earnings, which could shed some light on the rise in inflation. .
Technical levels
Source: Fx Street
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