On Wednesday, global markets have been volatile as Ukraine officials declared a state of emergency amid fears of a Russian invasion. Wall Street’s top indexes shuddered during the day’s trading sessions, and cryptocurrency markets slipped more than 4% during the 24 hour period. On the other hand, the price of gold has jumped 1.47% during the last four days, surging to $1,925 per ounce.
Global investors worry about Russia-Ukraine relations, Wall Street continues to see sell-offs
As the world tenses over ongoing problems between Russia and Ukraine, stock markets continued to bleed more money on Wednesday. According to the US State Department, Russia is not backing down and Ukrainian officials have declared a state of emergency.
Speaking to the press, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the Russian military is ready to advance. “Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border and put themselves in an advanced stage of readiness to act and to conduct military action in Ukraine at virtually any time now,” Kirby explained.
Investors around the world are concerned about the global economy, weak fiat currencies, and geopolitical tensions. “If anything, Putin is stubborn despite the increased sanctions,” Michael James, chief executive of investment firm Wedbush Securities, told reporters on Wednesday. The Wedbush exec added:
That’s really adding to elevated nervousness about further aggressive actions and what that will mean for commodities and inflation overall.
Major Wall Street indices shed significant losses amid uncertainty between Russia and Ukraine. The Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) index fell to its lowest level in eight months. The Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also continued to see selling on Wednesday afternoon (EST).
Nasdaq ended the day at -344, NYSE slipped by -196, the Dow dropped -464, and the S&P 500 slipped to -79 by the closing bell. Equities stemming from the information technology (IT) sector slipped 2.6% during the day.
Crypto Economy Crashes, Investors Find Solace in Gold as Precious Metal’s Value Soars
On Wednesday evening (EST), after brief volatility during the day, the crypto-economy’s 12,798 digital coins fell 4.7% against the US dollar. The crypto economy slid to $1.71 trillion with $78 billion in global trade volume, and stablecoins currently capture $50 billion of current trade volume.
While bitcoin (BTC) tapped a high of $39,231.52 per unit on Wednesday, by 10:00 p.m. (EST), the leading crypto token exchanged hands below $36K per unit. Ethereum (ETH) captured a high of $2,752 per unit on Wednesday, but slipped under $2,500 at 10:00 p.m. as well.
While the equity and crypto markets have fallen, the price of gold, a precious metal, continues to soar. During Wednesday night’s 10:00 p.m. trading session, the price of gold per ounce traded at $1,925 per unit.
Four days ago, gold was swapping 1.47% lower for $1,897 an ounce. Two days ago in Japan, the price of the precious metal jumped to its highest level ever and experts believe the rise was due to “geopolitical risk and worries over a weakening yen.”
