Dollar sentiment is Long after a strong jobs report for March last week reinforced the view that the Federal Reserve would likely hike rates by 50pts to tame inflation. Gold remains stable and range bound after hitting a new all-time high earlier last month. Oil, Gas and Russian Rouble are up this morning, whilst BTC has stalled after rejection at crucial levels last week, which could be evidence of waning risk appetite as the war drags out.
Sanctions
Markets will be apprehensively awaiting further details of new sanctions. Both Germany and France reiterated the need for more action after Russia was accused of committing war crimes against civilians late last week.
Oil
Oil is back up after a 13% slide last week when President Joe Biden announced the largest-ever U.S. oil reserves release. Fears of a supply squeeze remain due to a lack of significant development on the Iranian nuclear deal and OPEC members refusing to increase supply.
Week Ahead
The key focus will be on the FEDs FOMC minutes on Weds in the week ahead. Markets will be looking for clues regarding balance sheet offloading and any hints of a 50pt hike coming in May. Friday EURO Retail Sales (YoY)(Feb) will further reveal inflations impact on the zone and if it will be enough to push the ECB to change tact.