Equities recover as US announces sanctions

Asian equities stage a sanctions dead-cat bounce

A sense of “it could have been worse” swept New York late in the session after the White House announced its incremental Russian sanctions. That allowed US equities to reverse some of their losses, helped by decent economic data, but they still finished in the red. The S&P closed 1.02% lower, the Nasdaq lost 1.23%, and the Dow Jones closed 1.42% in the red. The buy-the-dippers are out in Asia as well as the Ukraine news ticker goes quiet for now. Futures on the S&P are up 0.40%, the Nasdaq by 0.55%, and the Dow Jones by 0.55%.

The same sentiments are also lifting Asian markets cautiously higher today after a torrid week so far. Japan is closed, but the South Korean Kospi is up by 0.20%. In China, the Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 have risen by 0.55% while Hong Kong is 0.65% in the green.

Weak results from OCBC have pushed Singapore 0.75% lower but elsewhere in ASEAN, markets are higher. Taipei has risen by 0.25%, Jakarta by 0.40%, Kuala Lumpur by 0.75%, Bangkok is flat, and Manila has eased 0.70% lower. Down in the lucky country, Australian indexes are in the green, helped along by the commodity rally overnight. The ASX 200 is 0.35% higher, while the All Ordinaries has rallied by 0.50%.

European markets will struggle to match Asia’s rally although if the Ukraine news ticker goes quiet for a couple of days, I fully expect equities globally to continue rallying on a no news is good news play. Don’t be fooled though, the moment the Ukraine situation darkens, so will equity markets.

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