Euro Leads Market Rebound on Cooling Ukraine Tensions

The euro rallied in Tuesday’s trading on news that Russia announced it would pull back some of its troops from the Ukraine border.

However, no sooner had the currency jumped 0.45% did it soften to $1.1347 on the news of a cyber-attack affecting Ukraine’s defense ministry and two of its banks. 

Shares around the world greeted the news of withdrawal positively. The usually skittish Australian dollar rose by 0.37% yesterday. Asian equities climbed 1% on Wednesday. 

The early part of this year’s economic news cycle continues to be dominated by stubborn inflation and key economies’ attempts to curb it through aggressive interest rate increases.

The US Fed is set to raise interest rates at its March meeting, likely kicking off a rapid slate of hikes supported by higher US benchmark bond yields.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was last 2.0329%, back near its two-year high after dipping below 2% this week as tensions rose.

What does this mean for me? 

With Russia and Ukraine adding geopolitical risk to the daily economic news cycle, investors have even more moving parts to consider. 

FOREX traders are keeping an eye on the flashpoint on Ukraine’s borders, which can set you up to take advantage of currency movements if you have mastered how they react to breaking news.

The ongoing high-stakes drama in Eastern Europe can serve as an important case study on just how jittery currencies can be when dangerous events come to the fore.