US equity futures are pointing to a roughly flat start for the major Wall Street indices against a backdrop of crude oil prices which were back around their levels of 2008.
In the background, the Russian fleet was said to be heading towards Odessa, a major port on Ukraine’s western Black Sea coast.
Overnight, when asked whether the US might cut Russian oil and gas imports, President Joe Biden said that “nothing is off the table”, although an immediate move appeared unlikely as it might boost profits for Russian companies even as it hit the American economy.
As of 1130 GMT, futures on the Dow Jones Industrials were slipping by 36.0 points to 33,813.0, alongside a 7.25 point fall for those on the S&P 500 to 4,374.50 and a 42.25 point drop to 14,197.0 for Nasdaq-100 futures.
In parallel, front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were advancing 2.25% to $113.09 a barrel on NYMEX, having earlier risen as high as $116.57.
April gold futures on COMEX were up 0.84% alongside to $1,938.40/oz..
Worth noting, in the background, some observers were musing out loud regarding the need to offer Moscow potential ‘off ramps’ in order to try and deescalate the situation and not just astronomical sanctions.
“If the regime-change scenario happens, this tension will be applauded as a necessary part of a brilliant strategy. If it doesn’t, the allies might regret failing to offer Putin an off-ramp,” wrote Bloomberg’s Clive Crook.