Curious fate of that of Volodymyr Zelensky. The 44-year-old former comedian and humorist, who became president of Ukraine in 2019, had to put on the clothes of a warlord in a few days. (©AFP)
The Western world’s economic and financial response to Russian aggression in Ukraine has put great pressure on Moscow. Investors lack visibility as the US central bank prepares to raise its key rates.
Unpredictable! The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has plunged the financial markets into great uncertainty. All the more brutally since the vast majority of observers did not consider it useful to attribute a high probability to the scenario of a military invasion by Russian troops on all Ukrainian territory.
However, as dramatic as the situation on the ground is, market operators are not showing extreme nervousness so far. Admittedly, the stock market indices are falling: the CAC 40 has lost more than 4% since the close of the markets on February 23, on the eve of the Russian offensive.
But the hope of a diplomatic settlement of the crisis does not seem to have been completely dismissed by the markets, as shown by the various attempts at rebounds initiated at each mention of negotiations between the belligerents.
In the United States, the Vix index, which measures the implicit volatility of the S&P 500 and therefore the nervousness of participants, rose sharply to 37.79 points on February 24, without ever exceeding 40 points. For the record, the “fear index” soared in March 2020, exceeding the threshold of 85 points because of the health crisis, a level equivalent to that of the financial crisis of 2008.
The conclusion is clear. So far, the markets have not panicked, penalizing mainly