Asian equities followed Wall Street lower on Friday after the White House warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come within days.
Japan’s benchmark Topix shed as much as 1.3 per cent in morning trading, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng fell as much as 1 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi fell as much as 1.2 per cent.
The declines in Asia came after sharp losses on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 fell more than 2 per cent and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped almost 3 per cent after Washington said Russia was on the brink of invading Ukraine.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden said there was a “very high risk”Of a Russian invasion and that he believed Moscow was engaged in“ a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in ”.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said late on Thursday he had invited his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to meet in Europe next week to prepare a possible summit of “key leaders” to resolve “mutual security concerns”.
Ned Price, the state department’s spokesperson, said Russia had responded with possible dates “late next week” for a meeting with Blinken, which the US was “accepting”.
But Price cautioned that this was contingent on Russia not invading Ukraine. “If they do invade in the coming days, it will make it clear they were never serious about diplomacy,” he wrote on Twitter.
Financial markets have swung sharply over the past week with development in Ukraine raising fears of potential supply chain disruptions that have driven energy prices to multiyear highs.
In commodities markets on Friday, oil prices edged lower with international benchmark Brent crude, which touched a seven-year high earlier this week, down 0.7 per cent at $ 92.28 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, was off 0.9 per cent at $ 90.92.
“Investors will react strongly if fighting breaks out,” said Mansoor Mohi-uddin, chief economist at Bank of Singapore, with the conflict likely to favor Treasuries and other havens while further boosting oil and gas prices.
“A prolonged downturn in global markets, however, would depend on whether Russia tries to fully occupy Ukraine and if the US sets harsh sanctions on Russia’s oil exports,” he said.
Futures markets pointed to further losses for global equities later in the day, with the S&P 500 set to shed 0.6 per cent.
Source link
