A week after the start of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, Russia has already been able to occupy many territories. The international opposition criticizes that the Russian actions violate international human rights and humanitarian principles.
The tense situation caused risky asset markets around the world to plummet in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, there is also buying again in the hope of peace negotiations, with Russia and Ukraine going into further negotiations.
The impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
— The Dow closed lower last week as investors continued to worry about the war in Ukraine, although U.S. jobs data, which pointed to a strong economy, exceeded expectations.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,614.80, down 443.95, or -1.30%.
- The S&P 500 closed at 4,328.87, down 55.78, or -1.27%.
- The NASDAQ closed at 13,313.44 points, down 381.18 or -2.78%.
— Crude oil futures rose sharply last week as ongoing fighting between Russia and Ukraine heightened concerns about energy supply disruptions.
- WTI crude futures rose 11.21%, at $115.68 a barrel. This is the highest closing level since September. 2008.
- BRENT crude futures rose 12.45%, to close at $118.11 a barrel. Which is the highest closing level since Feb. 2013.
— Gold futures closed higher on Friday (March 4) as investors bought gold as a safe haven.
- Gold futures rose $30.7, or 1.59%, at $1,966.6 an ounce, and in this week Gold futures rose 4.2%.
- Silver futures were up 57.7 cents, or 2.29%, at $25.789 an ounce.
- The platinum was up $36, or 3.33%, to close at $1,116.8 an ounce.
- The palladium futures were up $251.10, or 9.2 percent, at $2,981.90 an ounce.
— The U.S. dollar strengthened against major currencies on Friday (March 4) as investors fled to safer currencies.
- The dollar index against the six major currencies in a basket of currencies rose 0.88% to 98.6460.
- The US dollar strengthened against the Canadian dollar at 1.2742 Canadian dollars from 1.2681 Canadian dollars.
- The dollar was lower against the yen to 114.77 yen from 115.42 yen.
- The dollar weakened against the Swiss franc to 0.9182 francs from 0.9190 francs.
- The euro was lower against the dollar at $1.0913 from $1.1062.
- The pound fell to $1.3219 from $1.3337.
- The Australian dollar rose to $0.7370 from $0.7326.