The Ukrainian sends the European markets back to ‘deep red’

LAST UPDATE 15:55

European markets have been under siege for another day as the Kremlin distances itself from the Biden-Putin meeting dampened initial optimism about a diplomatic escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, leading to a new round of nervousness.

In particular, the pan-European index Stoxx 600, which at the beginning of trading strengthened by up to 0.6%, now moves with significant losses of more than 1.5% and falls to 453.8 points.

In the same climate. The German DAX is now down 2% and is moving at 14,741 points, the French CAC 40 is falling 2.1% to 6,782 points, while the British FTSE 100 is showing better defenses under pressure at -0.6% and 7,461 points. .

In the European region, the Italian FTSE MIB shows losses of 2.2% and trades at 25,927 points, as well as the Spanish IBEX, which from gains of 0.8% has now moved to losses of 1.5% moving to 8,565 points.

With geopolitical tensions on Ukraine’s border effectively monopolizing the interest of the international investment community in recent times, the news that Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden have agreed to meet to discuss the issue, following a proposal by the French president Εμ. Macron, brought an initial wave of optimism that was reflected in a modest rise at the start of trading.

However, the Kremlin was quick to point out that there were no “concrete plans” for a summit, quickly restoring nervousness in the markets.

Characteristic of the importance that investors attach to developments on the Ukrainian front, is that sellers again dominate in a day that had a series of positive macroeconomic elements.

In particular, the economic recovery of the eurozone recorded a sharp rise in February, with the PMI recording a five-month high at 55.8 points.

At the same time, in Britain, private sector activity has recovered at the fastest pace since June 2021, as well as in Germany, which saw business activity move at the fastest pace in the last six months.

Elsewhere in the day-to-day business news, Credit Suisse said it was “strongly rejecting” allegations of leakage of data from thousands of its bank accounts over the past decades.

Following the Archegos fund scandal last year, the Swiss bank is once again facing shocks, as it seems to have customers involved in serious criminal offenses.