Asian equties closed higher barely escaping price impact after reports spread on large Russian military convoy marching toward Ukraine’s capital Kiyev.
The CSI300, HSI, KOSPI, SET and TOPIX closed higher by 0.83%, 0.21%, 0.84% , 0.54% and 0.54% respectively.
U.S. futures inched down with Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down by 0.41%, 0.50% and 0.71% respectively.
Russia intensified shelling in key cities in Ukraine as Russian troops on the ground move slowly in a large convoy towards the capital, Kyiv. The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said residential areas were being bombed in what he called “a war to destroy the Ukrainian people.”
The steady stream of penalties against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine continued, but apparently is having little impact on events on the ground.
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland are meeting in Lodz, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson travel separately to Poland and later Estonia.
Crude oil parred earlier intraday drop with WTI rising by 3.27% to $98.23 per barrel and Brent rising to $101.74 per barrel.
Bitocoin surged to $43,256.24 level after traders began taking the asset as an hedge against geo-political tension.
