Safe-haven assets rally on nuclear concerns

• Gold ↑ 0.9% on risk-off sentiment

• JPY best performing G10 currency vs USD today

• Swiss franc second best performer

• USDInd steady around 106.40

• Risk assets take hit, US futures point to ↓ open

Investors rushed toward safer assets on Tuesday as fresh concern over the conflict in Ukraine sparked risk aversion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing Russia to fire nuclear weapons in response to any attack on its land.

This development comes after US President Joe Biden’s decision to enable Ukraine to attack Russia using US long-range weapons.

In response, a wave of risk aversion has swept across global markets with traditional safe-haven assets rallying this morning.

• Gold

The precious metal is up almost 1%, pushing its week-to-date gains to nearly 3%.  Prices could extend higher on the risk-off sentiment with the 50-day SMA and 21-day SMA acting as key levels of interest.

Bloomberg’s FX model forecasts a 72% chance that XAUUSD will trade within the $2580 – $2691.75 range, using current levels as a base, over the next one-week period.

 

• Yen

Yen bulls are on a roll this morning, drawing strength from the risk-off mode. It has also been supported by warnings from Japanese authorities on excessive currency movements. The Yen is the best performing G10 currency today, gaining over 0.7% against the USD.

The Swiss franc is the second best performing G10 currency against the dollar, while the USD has appreciated against every other G10 currency excluding the Swiss franc and Yen.

Fears over the risk of nuclear warfare is likely to keep markets on edge this week.

Such a development may pressure risk-assets with European markets flashing red and US futures pointing to a negative open later today.

Should tensions escalate further, this could spell more gains for safe-haven assets while dragging equity markets lower.