Stocks in Asia wavered Wednesday as investors remained circumspect about the chances of the Ukraine war coming to an end.
This, after Russia said it will sharply reduce military activity near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and that Moscow would take steps to “de-escalate” the conflict. The talks failed to reach agreement on a ceasefire, however.
Equities fell in Japan, but rose in Australia and South Korea. U.S. futures fell after the S&P 500 notched up gains for the fourth consecutive day. The Nasdaq 100 climbed, aided by Apple Inc., which logged its longest winning streak in 19 years. Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early barometer of India’s benchmark Nifty 50, rose 0.93% to 17,539 points as of 7:10 am.
Bonds got a breather as hopes for progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine drove down oil prices and inflation expectations. Crude oil reversed some of its slide in early Asia trade .
The dollar held losses against commodity-linked currencies. Elsewhere, bitcoin fell for the second consectutive day to $47,200.
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