World markets were higher on Wednesday (Feb 23) after Russian President Putin said Moscow is ready to look for “diplomatic solutions” amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.
Stocks in Asia-Pacific closed in the green. Mainland Chinese equities gained. The Shanghai composite closed up 0.93% to 3,489.15 while the Shenzhen component climbed 1.902% to about 13,549.99. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added about 0.6%, as of its final hour of trading.
South Korea’s markets advanced after two days of declines. The Kospi climbed 0.47%, closing at 2,719.53. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended the trading day 0.62% higher at 7,207.70 after having fallen 1% on Tuesday.
In Europe, stocks also moved higher as investors digested a strong round of corporate earnings. Barclays, Danone and Rio Tinto are among those reporting in the Old Continent.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.68% at 13:21 GMT while Germany’s DAX climbed 0.73%.
Investors shrugged off data showing that German consumer sentiment fell in February and is set to drop in March as higher inflation dampened income prospects. “Above all, expectations of a significant easing in price trends at the beginning of the year have been shattered for the time being, as inflation rates continue to hover at a high level,” market research institute GfK Consumer Expert Rolf Buerkl wrote in the report.
In the U.S., stock exchanges partially recovered in premarket trade on Wednesday from sharp losses recorded yesterday.The Dow Jones advanced 0.80%, or 270 points, at 4:14 am ET while the S&P 500 rose 0.94%. The Nasdaq 100 was up 1.28% at the same time.
“While uncertainties remain, our work shows that historically military/crisis events tend to inject volatility into markets and often cause a short-term dip, but stocks tend to eventually rebound unless the event pushes the economy into recession,” Eylem Senyuz, senior global macro strategist at Truist, wrote in a note to clients.
“Investor sentiment also suggests the bar for positive surprises is low,” Senyuz added.
Outside of the crisis in Eastern Europe, inflation remains the dominant theme for markets.
