Asian Stock Market: Bleeds on intensifying fears over Ukraine's nuclear station, NFP eyed
- Asian markets plunge as fears intensify post shelling at Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
- Russia-Ukraine peace talks 2.0: Invasion will continue while civilian lives are assured.
- Investors eye the US Nonfarm Payrolls for further guidance on the March Fed monetary policy.
Asian stock markets remain vulnerable on Friday, as the uncertainty relating to the Russia-Ukraine war intensifies following the shelling at Europe’s largest nuclear power station in Ukraine. This has brought a fresh wave of risk-aversion, which is clearly visible from the downtick in the regional indices.
Japan’s Nikkie225 declines 2.3%, China A50 drops almost 1% while Nifty50 looks to open on a weak note at the press time.
Earlier, the sentiment in the market turned negative on Thursday after the truce talks 2.0 between the Kremlin and Ukraine ended without a principal outcome. The second round of peace talks between the nations resulted in the continuation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian civilians were allowed to move to safe passages. This has paused destruction to human life to some extent but it has not been considered as a step towards a ceasefire. Therefore, investors are left with no other option than to dump the risk-perceived assets.
Apart from that, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony on Thursday before the US Congress was loud and clear on a fresh wave in inflation amid the Ukraine crisis. Therefore, a 25 basis point (bps) interest rate hike is almost done deal in the March monetary policy meeting. The Ukraine crisis is set to result in supply chain bottlenecks and rising oil prices, which may keep inflation at peak levels for a while.
As of now, the odds of a quarter of the percent rate hike are more inattention, although the US Nonfarm Payrolls from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are due on Friday, which may further dictate the likely monetary policy action from the Fed.