An uneasy calm settled across financial markets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this evening. Equities struggled for direction; the dollar index remained static while gold prices were little changed.

A wave of risk aversion whacked financial markets on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilization over Ukraine and warned the West over ‘nuclear blackmail'.

Global equity bulls lingered in the vicinity on Tuesday as market sentiment stabilized following the Fed induced sell-off last Friday.

US equities tumbled on Wednesday as they suffered their worst day since the early months of the pandemic in June 2020. The benchmark S&P500 fell 4% with 98% of stocks declining.