Stocks fall, bonds and gold rise as threats from Russia heighten Fed unrest

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Stocks fell, while safe havens such as Treasuries and the dollar rose, as jittery investors fled risk assets after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a mobilization over Ukraine and accused the West of “nuclear blackmail”. .

European currencies came under fire, with the euro falling 0.4% to $0.9932 and the pound last down 0.3% to $1.1346, after hitting a new 37-year low of $1.1304.

After an initial slide following Putin’s comments, European stock markets pared losses, leaving the STOXX index (.STOXX) up 0.4% on the day, supported by a rally in oil and gas stocks, which responded to a jump in energy prices.

U.S. stock index futures rose, suggesting a modestly stronger start to the day on Wall Street later (.SPX).

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency’s performance against six major peers, rose 0.32% to 110.52, after hitting a fresh two-decade high of 110.87.

With the US Federal Reserve set to deliver another aggressive rate hike later in the day, in a week packed with key central bank decisions, key market gauges of volatility neared multi-week highs. (.VIX), (.V2TX)

“There will be more of a flight to safety. We will probably see the dollar strengthen again. And I think there will be a rally to funds that maybe offer safety,” Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

Putin said he had signed a partial mobilization decree from Wednesday, saying he was defending Russian territories and that the West wanted to destroy the country. read more

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people – this is not a hoax,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation, adding that Russia had “many weapons to respond”.

“It’s the fact that he’s decided to dust off the nuclear card that obviously hasn’t gone down well and the euro has really felt the effects of that as well,” said Michael Hewson, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in London. .

Shares were already under pressure given the turmoil surrounding the Fed’s upcoming policy decision, which is widely expected to raise interest rates by three-quarters of a point.

The MSCI All-World index of global shares fell 0.3% to skim a two-month low, while gold, another traditional safe haven, rose 0.5% to trade around $1,667.40 an ounce, set for its biggest one-day rally in over a week.

Crude oil jumped 2.4% to $92.75 a barrel, while natural gas prices rose, as traders braced for another blow to global energy supplies.

In Asia overnight, Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) fell 1.36% to hit a two-week low, while Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) fell 0.71% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (.HSI) lost 1.48% .

The Fed headlines a week in which more than a dozen central banks announce policy decisions, including the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England on Thursday.

As traders and investors have raised expectations that central banks will raise interest rates to curb persistent inflation, global bond yields have risen in recent months.

But with nerves over Russia running high, so too did the demand for comparative safety of sovereign debt.

German 10-year Bund yields fell 7 basis points to around 1.873%, on course for their biggest one-day drop in a month, after hitting their highest since early 2014 the previous day.

The 10-year Treasury yield hit 3.604% on Tuesday for the first time since April 2011, before retreating to 3.535% after Putin’s comments.

Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Kim Coghill, Mark Potter, William Maclean

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