Asian Shares Slide amid Concerns of Stumbling Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks

On Friday, Asian shares took a tumble at the second consecutive session amid worries over potentially slowing diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine and possible economic recession, whereas crude oil plunged following plans of releasing supplies from emergency oil reserves.

According to Reuters, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 0.6% by 2:35am ET while Japan’s Nikkei slid by 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Seoul’s Kospi dropped by 0.8% and 0.6% respectively while the Chinese blue chips inched up by 0.7%, spurred by possible relaxation of policy.

OANDA Senior Analyst Jeffrey Halley said, "The Ukraine invasion re-energized the commodity price complex, pushing into the future the previously anticipated falls in inflation as baseline effects kicked in." He added, "The Federal Reserve may engage in a series of 0.5% rate hikes that will change the investing landscape profoundly for the world. Other countries may also be forced to play vigorous catchup on monetary policy to rein in soaring inflation."