Themes

• General mood is “risk off”
• Reuters: NATO confirms that an invasion of the Ukraine has begun
• Australian Capital Expenditure +1.1% from +2.6% talk  
• Moskow Times: New Ukrainian territories have asked Russia for “help” against Kiev

What’s Moving

Tight ranges early in Asia today, with most players still eyeing newswires for updates on the Ukraine. It was then off to the races after NATO confirmed a Russian Invasion of the Ukraine, with strong USD buying against the EUR, Sterling and the commodity currencies.

Gold also rose strongly, safter early buying out of Hong Kong. Mid Asian session, gold caught a strong bid and traded to a fresh 13 month high. This bid came right after newswires reports that Russi’s Putin had announced a “special military operation.”

Tonight’s session will again be dominated by updates from the Ukraine.

Data tonight sees:

• U.S. GDP (E: +7.0%)
• U.S. Initial Claims (E: 233K)  
• U.S. New Home Sales (E: 800k)
• U.S. Crude Oil Inventories (E: -1.0mln)