Risk markets were mildly hit by deterioration in Ukraine's situation. The S&P 500 closed below 2000 handle by dropping -3.38 pts to 1996.74 while DJIA closed -42.44 pts down at 17079.57. Asian equities are also generally lower with the Nikkei 225 down -0.3% at the moment while HK HSI is down -0.25% at the time of writing. The currency markets are rather steady though. The dollar continues to stay in tight range against European majors and yen, and it maintained a bullish outlook. Meanwhile, the greenback is staying mildly bearish against commodity currencies.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko announced that he has cancelled the visit to Turkey because of "the sharp deterioration of the situation in the Donetsk region". He also called for an emergency meeting to discussion the situation. NATO also released images that it said showed Russian artillery units operating in Ukraine and said that more than 1000 Russian soldiers had now joined separatists fighting in Ukraine. In a Reuters report, a NATO senior officer indicated that there had been "a significant escalation in both the level and sophistication of Russia's military interference in Ukraine" over the past 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Germany and France have pledged to accelerate sanctions against Russia from. In a statement issued by the White House, US President Obama avoided the word "invasion" but noted that the actions used "in the last week a continuation of what's been taking place for months". He reiterated that the best tactics against Putin would still be isolating him with economic sanctions.
On the data front, Japan house Tokyo CPI core dropped back to 2.7% yoy in August while national CPI core was unchanged at 3.3% yoy in July. Unemployment rate rose to 3.8% in July, household spending dropped -5.9% yoy, retail sales rose 0.5% yoy, industrial production rose 0.2% mom, housing starts dropped -14.1% yoy. New Zealand building permits rose 0.1% mom in July, NBNZ business confidence dropped to 24.4 in August. UK Gfk consumer sentiment improved to 1 in August.
Looking ahead, Swiss KOF leading indicator, Eurozone unemployment and CPI will be featured in European session. US will release personal income and spending and Chicago PMI while Canada will release GDP, IPPI and RMPI in US session.