Late Friday Roundup: Geopol Risks Reassessed

Distinction between calm or exhausted markets was hard to tell Friday, the second day after Russia invasion of Ukraine. Treasuries traded modestly weaker on an inside range as equities enjoyed strong gains in late trade - both a continuation from late Thursday trade as markets reassessed geopol-risk of the Ukraine invasion as well as the costs of punitive sanctions on Russia.

• Amid myriad sanctions against Russian banks, wealthy individuals (including Pres Putin and foreign minister Lavrov) is the ongoing debate over whether Russian would be banned from the SWIFT banking system. After some initial pushback on the matter, Italian officials said there was no veto on the ban while Germany said the ban would be "manageable".
• Despite the bounce back to early Monday level (ESH2 at 4378.75, +94.75 late Fri) E-Mini S&P technical conditions are bearish however price remains above Thursday’s 4101.75 low and a corrective bounce extended Friday.
• Heavy session volumes in Tsy futures largely tied to final rolling from March to June futures that take lead on Monday. TYM2 traded 126-11 after the bell, -2.
• Lead Eurodollar quarterly EDH2 traded weaker even before latest 3M LIBOR set' gain of +0.01514 to 0.52300% -- new high last seen around early May 2020 after benchmark climbs +0.4343 total for the week. Chances of 50bp liftoff n March back around 50% with EDH2 at 99.325, -0.0575 after the bell.
• Later next week: Fed Chair Powell will be giving the semi-annual monetary policy report testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on Weds March 2 and the Senate Banking Committee on Thu March 3 - 1000ET/1500GMT in each case.