Forex Today: Volatility remains high amid Eastern Europe jitters

What you need to take care of on Wednesday, March 9:

The market mood improved modestly as, earlier in the day. Ukraine confirmed the first humanitarian corridor, which allowed the evacuation from Sumy and Mariupol. So far, the UN has reported that the total number of refugees topped two million.

The sentiment improved further after news agencies reported Ukraine would no longer seek NATO membership, in a nod to Russia. Meanwhile, the next round of peace talks is scheduled for next Thursday in Turkey.

US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have announced sanctions on Russia amid its latest invasion of Ukraine. The first announced they are banning all crude oil imports from Moscow, including gas and energy, “after consulting with allies.” The ban on Russian energy applies to all new purchases. Market participants have already anticipated this move, as it has been making the rounds since Monday.

As for the UK government, they announced that they would phase out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022. The idea is to transition to provide ample time for markets and businesses to replace Russian imports. Ever further, they noted that the current reliance on Russian natural gas accounts for 4% of the supply and that they are already looking into it.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to ban the export of products and raw materials out of the Russian federation until December 31.

The EUR/USD pair peaked at 1.0957 but settled a handful of pips above the 1.0900 figure. GBP/USD ended the day struggling to retain the 1.3100 threshold. Commodity-linked currencies ended the day lower against the greenback. The AUD/USD pair trades around 0.7270, while USD/CAD flirts with 1.2900.

Spot gold soared to $2,070.50 a troy ounce, retreating sharply afterwards and ending the day around $2,031. Crude oil prices posted are little changed at the close, with the barrel of WTI changing hands at $123.60.

US indexes managed to recover some ground, ending Tuesday with modest gains.

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