International Business: Stocks sink as Ukraine war shakes markets – Gulf Digital News

International Business: Stocks sink as Ukraine war shakes markets – Gulf Digital News

LONDON: Data showing a red-hot US jobs market sent Treasury yields lower and strengthened the dollar yesterday, but the war in Ukraine overshadowed the blowout report as the euro plunged on expectations of slower European economic growth.

US job growth surged in February, pushing the unemployment rate down to a two-year low of 3.8 per cent and employment just 2.1 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.

The euro tumbled below $1.10 for the first time in almost two years and hit a fresh seven-year low against the Swiss franc as Russian forces seized the largest nuclear power plant in Europe after a building at the complex was set ablaze.

The dollar index rose 1.043pc and the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, narrowed further to 25.6 basis points.

The two-year Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 3.6 basis points to 1.50pc, while the 10-year Treasury yield fell 9.3 basis points to 1.751pc.

If it were not for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Federal Reserve would likely raise interest rates by 50 basis points at its policy meeting in two weeks, said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade