Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Yen Weakens as Stocks to Ruble Rise on Putin Troop Recall Report

Bloomberg News



The yen slipped against all major peers, U.S. equity futures rallied and stocks in Asia climbed after a report that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered some troops engaged in military tests back to base amid escalating tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region.


The yen weakened 0.3 percent to 101.87 to the dollar by 3:19 p.m. in Tokyo after its highest close since Feb. 5. Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPA) futures jumped 0.7 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.2 percent after dropping 0.9 percent in two days. A measure of stocks in emerging markets erased declines as Russia's Micex Index climbed 3.4 percent after $55 billion was wiped from the country's equities yesterday. The ruble climbed 0.4 percent from a record low versus the greenback and Poland's zloty surged. Gold fell 0.6 percent from a four-month high.


U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is on the way to Kiev after Russia told the United Nations that its intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region is legal amid threats posed by extremists. The crisis sent global stocks down the most in a month and haven assets soaring yesterday. Chinese lawmakers meet on economic policy starting tomorrow. Federal Reserve vice-chairman nominee Stanley Fischer appears before the Senate.


'This crisis is going to be resolved probably without a shot, with the end result being that Crimea will end up as part of Russia, and without a war,' Andreas Utermann, who helps oversee $442 billion as chief investment officer for Allianz Global Investors, said on Bloomberg TV in Hong Kong. 'It's a short term pain. These are definite buying opportunities. It's going to stabilize.'


Russian Open

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed after it plunged the most since Jan. 27 yesterday as Russia's benchmark gauge plummeted 11 percent.


Kerry's trip to Kiev, scene of the bloody uprising that precipitated the current crisis, comes after the leaders of the Group of Seven nations condemned Russia's actions as a clear violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russia denied a report yesterday that it had given Ukrainian navy ships a deadline to capitulate.


Russia's ruble climbed 0.3 percent to 50.0130 versus the euro and to 36.3990 against the dollar after the currency closed at a record low yesterday. The Micex is heading for its first gain in six days and its biggest jump since September 2012.


Bank Rossii, which yesterday boosted its key one-week auction rate by 150 basis points to 7 percent as stocks and the ruble tumbled, has about $150 billion for foreign currency interventions, ING Groep NV analyst Dmitry Polevoy wrote in a note to clients late yesterday.


About the same number of stocks rose as fell on the Asia-Pacific equity gauge, which is down 3 percent this year, as the number of share transactions in Hong Kong and Japan trailed the 30-day average by at least 23 percent.


Japan's Topix index capped toward its first increase in five days, buoyed by electrical-appliance makers and real-estate companies.


To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Gentle in Hong Kong at ngentle2@bloomberg.net; Emma O'Brien in Wellington at eobrien6@bloomberg.net


To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net


Post a Comment for "Yen Weakens as Stocks to Ruble Rise on Putin Troop Recall Report"