In Asian Equity Markets stocks retreated on Thursday after Russian media reported that rebels in eastern Ukraine had accused Kyiv government forces of using mortars to attack their territory. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares lost 0.09 percent, reversing morning gains, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.77 percent. Investors also pulled back from Hong Kong stocks with the Hang Seng Index falling 0.37 percent. Chinese blue chips added 0.36 percent, and Australia’s benchmark rose 0.16 percent as higher metals prices outweighed geopolitical concerns. South Korea’s Kospi leapt 1.21 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar bounced on Thursday after a Russian news report of mortar fire in eastern Ukraine jangled market nerves and sent investors in to safe havens. The euro fell as much as 0.4 percent as traders immediately saw risks of a wider war. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar lost as much as 0.6 percent before settling 0.2 percent lower at $0.7185. The safe-haven yen rose about 0.1 percent to 115.29 per dollar. The New Zealand dollar was last flat at $0.6685 after touching a one-week high of $0.6703. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.1 percent to 95.927.

In US Equity Markets stocks bounced off session lows Wednesday with the S&P 500 crossing into positive territory by the closing bell after the U.S. Fed released meeting minutes, which said that while the central bank intends to begin raising interest rates to combat inflation, its decisions would be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis. The Dow fell 0.16 percent, to 34,934.27, the S&P 500 gained 0.09 percent, to 4,475.01 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11 percent, to 14,124.10. Lockheed Martin rose 1.2 percent after being selected to develop prototype next generation U.S. Marine Corps 5G communications.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday as investors weighed conflicting statements on the possible withdrawal of some Russian troops from around Ukraine. Brent crude settled up 1.6 percent, to $94.81 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended up 1.7 percent, to $93.66, pulling back from the day’s high of $95.01 a barrel. Spot gold was up 0.9 percent at $1,869.41 per ounce. Elsewhere, silver rose 0.9 percent to $23.56 per ounce, platinum climbed 3.3 percent to $1,059.60 and palladium gained 1.4 percent to $2,279.71.

In European Equity Markets stocks made cautious gains on Wednesday, pushed higher by commodity-heavy stocks with Russia-Ukraine tensions in focus, while Swedish telecom firm Ericsson fell after investigations showed misconduct. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index ended 0.1 percent higher with oil firms and miners leading gains, marginally adding to the 1.4 percent jump on Tuesday when Moscow indicated it was returning some troops surrounding Ukraine. Meanwhile, UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent.

In Bond Markets the U.S. Treasury yield curve steepened after a rally in the 2-year note following a reassessment of the Federal Reserve’s path toward monetary policy normalization, while traders kept a look on developments in the Ukraine-Russia border. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was up 0.2 basis points to 2.047 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 0.7 basis points to 2.368 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was down 3.4 basis points at 1.535 percent.