Market sentiment sinks deeply after Russian President Valdimir Putin declared recognition of independence of the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, and ordered troops to enter the regions, which is seen as risk of imminent invasion. Coordinated sanctions on Russia are expected shortly from the US and allies, including the UK, France and Germany. It seems that further escalation is the only way to go. Asian stocks are in deep red today, which US futures trading heavily lower. On the other hand, Gold and oil prices are both firming up. In the currency markets, Swiss Franc remains the strongest one for the week on risk aversion, while Yen is catching up. Euro is so far the worst performing one, together with Sterling. Others are mixed. Technically, GBP/CHF's break of 1.2465 support should confirm that rebound from 1.2276 has completed at 1.2598. and deeper fall would be seen back to 1.2776 as risk sentiment deteriorates. To follow up, we'd now look at 155.11 support in GBP/JPY. Firm break there will suggest that rise from 152.88 has finished at 158.04. Deeper selloff could then be seen back to 152.88 and possibly through to 148.94. Both pairs could be indicative of how desperate the safe haven flows are. In Asia, at the time of writing, Nikkei is down -1.93%. Hong Kong HSI is down -2.95%. China Shanghai SSE is down -1.36%. Singapore Strait Times is down -0.83%. Japan 10-year JGB yield is down -0.0095 at 0.199. | 