STATE OF THE MARKETS

NASDAQ, Russell enters bear market. US stocks fell sharply lower on Monday after news hit the wire that the US and its allies are considering banning Russian’s oil. Dow (-2.37%) and S&P (-2.95%) remain in corrective territories while Nasdaq (-3.62%) and Russell (-2.48%) are technically in bear market after falling more than 25% from their all-time high.

Safe havens remain the order of the day, though investors seemed to prefer cash and precious metal as yields of various maturities jumped amid the sell-off in bonds. At writing, the shorter 2Y jumped close to 1.60%, 5Y to 1.77% and the longer 10Y to 1.84% while the 30Y spiked to 2.25%. The Dollar index is approaching the 99.50 minor handle as gold spiked above $2,020.80/oz at writing.

In the commodities market, the new possible sanctions sent major commodities higher. Crude spiked to $130/bl in the futures market while spot settled lower at $119.40/bl while gold was fixed at $1,997.13 as New York closed. Elsewhere, iron ore climbed further above $158.80/tn as sanctions and inflation remained on the walls of worry.

In the FX space, Aussie and Kiwi continue to lead demand in the medium and long term accounts while Kiwi seize the lead in the short term alongside Dollar. Risk-off mood continues to put Loonie on offers despite recent rate hike from Bank of Canada.

On Tuesday, the war will continue to be in the spotlights while markets look for earnings reports from MongoDB (MDB), Olaplex (OLPX), Dicks Sports (DKS), Guidewire (GWRE), Caseys (CASY), Petco (WOOF) and Oracle (ORCL) as well as the Small Business Optimism Index, International trade data and the Redbook.