Benzinga | Mar 18, 2014 11:11AM ET
Fears of military action in Ukraine subsided for the time being and gave markets some breathing room to focus on economic data after the result of Crimea’s weekend vote to succeed from Ukraine and join Russia created uncertainty around the globe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have brushed off the US and Europe’s first round of economic sanctions as he signed a decree recognizing the small peninsula as an independent state on Monday.
Putin is set to speak later on Tuesday, which could bring the region’s crisis back into focus if he expresses a desire to move the annexation process along quickly.
For the moment, investors have turned their attention to the US Federal Reserve’s two day policy meeting which begins on Tuesday. The bank is expected to continue reducing its asset buying scheme by $10 million per month, but could revise some of its forward guidance. The bank originally said it would consider policy tightening when the nation’s unemployment rate reached 6.5 percent.
However, now that the unemployment rate is nearing that threshold, the bank is expected to use less specific language and put off a rate cut.
h2 Top News/h2In other news around the markets:
Asian markets were up across the board on Tuesday; the Japanese NIKKEI rose 0.94 percent, the Shanghai composite was up 0.08 percent and the Shenzhen composite gained 0.12 percent. The Hang Seng index rose 0.51 percent and the South Korean KOSPI rose 0.66 percent.
h3 European Markets/h3European shares stumbled, the UK’s FTSE lost 0.19 percent and the eurozone’s STOXX 600 was down 0.20 percent. The German DAX fell 0.61 percent and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.15 percent.
h3 Commodities/h3Brent futures for May delivery gained 0.19 percent, but WTI futures for April delivery were down 0.66 percent. Gold and silver lost 0.87 percent and 1.72 percent respectively and industrial metals were mixed with aluminum down 0.89 percent but tin up 0.22 percent.
h3 Currencies/h3The euro held above $1.39, but the pound lost 0.20 percent. The dollar lost 0.35 percent against the yen, but gained 0.11 percent against the Australian dollar.
h3 Earnings/h3Notable earnings released on Monday included:
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
Notable earnings releases expected on Tuesday include:
Tuesday’s economic calendar will be dominated by US data including housing starts, CPI, and building permits. Other notable economic releases include German economic sentiment, eurozone trade balance, Italian trade balance and Canadian manufacturing sales.
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