EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower in Tuesday trade as tensions between Russia and Ukraine keep being monitored. Japanese stocks struggled with the Nikkei 225 down 0.70%. South Korea’s KOSPI dipped 0.96% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.40%.
Mainland Chinese stocks, on the other hand, were higher. The Shanghai composite gained 0.40% by the afternoon while the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded 0.70% lower.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.49%, to 34,566.17 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.38% to 4,401.67. The Nasdaq Composite was essentially flat at 13,790.92.
OIL
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as investors took profits from the previous day's rally to seven-year highs and as global stock markets slumped, although losses were capped by fears that Russia might invade Ukraine and disrupt supplies.
Russia is one of the world's largest oil and gas producers and fears it could invade Ukraine have driven a rally in oil towards $100 per barrel, a level not seen since 2014.
The Brent now traded at $95.82 per barrel, while the U.S. crude futures traded at $94.71 per barrel.
Both benchmarks hit their highest since September 2014 on Monday, with Brent touching $96.78 and WTI reaching $95.82.
CURRENCIES
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was at 1.979% compared with its U.S. close of 1.996% on Monday. The two-year yield, which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 1.562% compared with a U.S. close of 1.589%.
Despite the Russia-Ukraine tensions, futures markets are still pointing towards a high likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its March meeting.
The dollar index was steady at 96.207, just off Monday's two-week high.
GOLD
Gold prices climbed to an eight-month high on Tuesday, as heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine prompted investors to shun riskier assets and opt for safe-haven bullion.
Spot gold was up 0.4% at $1,879.00 per ounce, after hitting its highest level since June 11 at $1,878.88 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,879.90.
Among other precious metals, spot silver gained 0.3% to $23.92 per ounce, platinum added 0.2% to $1,030.50, while palladium was flat at $2,347.00.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian share benchmarks dropped on Tuesday as investors contemplated the implications of a potential imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Geopolitical anxieties have been simmering in recent weeks as negotiators scrambled to find a diplomatic path forward as Russia amassed troops along the Ukrainian border, with the U.S. closing its embassy in Kyiv.
Away from geopolitics, U.S. Federal Reserve officials continuing to spar over how aggressively to begin upcoming interest rate increases at their March meeting. Hawkish Fed official James Bullard, who last week broke ranks to call for a large 50 basis point increase, reiterated calls for a faster pace of interest rate hikes on Monday, though other officials were more cautious in their public remarks.
