Sharp Declines In Asia As War Breaks In Ukraine

Most major Asia-Pac equity indices are over 2% softer at typing, while similar declines were observed in regional EM equity indices. The broad move lower was facilitated by a sharp deterioration in the Russia-Ukraine situation during Asian trading hours, culminating in Russian President Putin announcing the commencement of a “special military operation” into separatist regions of Ukraine. There have since been reports of Russian incursions into Ukraine and explosions being heard across several Ukrainian cities, although the Russian military continues to emphasize that they are avoiding civilian targets in an effort to demilitarise Ukraine.

• The Hang Seng brings up the rear among regional peers, sitting 3.4% lower at typing. More granularly, the Hang Seng Tech Index leads losses being 4.0% worse off, as worry over China-based tech company performance mounts ahead of Alibaba’s earnings call later on Thursday (the company is widely expected to report a ~60% decline in earnings following a continued crackdown on Chinese internet companies throughout 2021).
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures trade 2.1-2.3% lower at typing.