Nasdaq Drops to 9-Mth Lows as Situation in Ukraine Deteriorates

Sentiment in the markets soured following Putin's decisions to recognize two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent and then deploy troops in what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation, leading to a broad selloff of risk assets.

Shortly after, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting trade with the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions of Ukraine.

Additionally, EU leaders will meet today to discuss possible sanctions, while other, more significant sanctions should also be on the agenda if Russia invades the rest of the country.

"Invasion" news sent stocks sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index falling to new cycle lows below 13,700 USD, the level last seen in June 2020. At the same time, the German DAX index fell 4% and cleared out all the stop-losses below the psychological 15,000 EUR threshold, dropping to the lowest price since March 2021.

Elsewhere, the bad news is good news for gold, pushing the bullion above the 1,900 USD threshold, likely attacking the psychological 2,000 USD level again. Moreover, oil also benefited from the recent re-escalation and jumped to 95 USD, probably conquering the 100 USD threshold this week.