Russian-Ukrainian tensions still cast a shadow over the markets
Markets started the week's trading with price gaps, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the nuclear deterrent is on high alert. On the other hand, Western powers imposed more sanctions on some Russian banks by banning them from the SWIFT global system.
Gold prices rose today to the levels of $ 1,928 before returning to the levels of $ 1,892 to cover the price gap, and then return for the time being to trade around the levels of $ 1,915 per ounce.
Crude oil prices also rose strongly amid fears of a severe disruption to Russian crude supplies in light of the sanctions imposed on its banks. Also, BP, the largest foreign investor in Russia, announced that it was giving up its stake in the state oil company Rosneft, which amounts to about $25 billion.
WTI reached levels of $98.25 a barrel before returning to trading currently around $95 levels, while Brent crude reached levels of $100 again, before returning to levels of $97.50 a barrel. Both crudes have risen by more than 25% since the beginning of 2022 until now.
The Russian ruble was hit hard at the beginning of the weekly trading, hitting its lowest levels in history against the US dollar, which prompted the Russian central banks to raise interest rates from 9.5% to 20% today.
Tomorrow, investors' attention is focused on several important economic data and events that will have an impact on market movements, on top of which will be the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting, which is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.10%. Also, the Canadian GDP is due to be released, and the US manufacturing data from the ISM will be focused on for any clues about the jobs report next Friday.
