• APAC stocks were mostly negative after the heavy losses in the US; SPX -2.81%, NDX -3.87%
• US Secretary of State Blinken said the US has not yet seen a sign that Russian President Putin is serious regarding meaningful negotiations on Ukraine.
• European equity futures are indicative of a softer open with Eurostoxx 50 future -0.4% after the cash market closed lower by 1.0% yesterday.
• DXY has held on to recent spoils above 102, AUD outperforms in G10 FX post-hot CPI data, EUR/USD hit a 5yr low.
• Looking ahead, highlights include German GfK, Weekly EIA Inventories, New Zealand Trade Balance, Speeches from ECB’s Lagarde & Lane, SNB’ s Zurbruegg, BoC’s Macklem, Supply from Germany & US.
• Earnings from Deutsche Bank, Iberdrola, Mercedes-Benz, STMicroelectronics, Credit Suisse, GSK, LSE, Meta, Boeing, Ford, PayPal, Qualcomm & T-Mobile.

US TRADE

• SPX -2.81% at 4,175, NDX -3.87% at 13,009, DJIA -2.38% at 33,240, R2K -2.99% at 1,895.
• US stocks tumbled as Monday's late-session rebound proved to be a dead-cat bounce in the wake of renewed global risk aversion, while the Nasdaq led the declines as participants braced for the large-cap tech earnings.

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NOTABLE US HEADLINES

• Fed Vice-Chair Nominee Brainard secured Senate votes to win confirmation although the Senate failed to advance Cook's Fed nomination due to COVID absences, according to Reuters.

GEOPOLITICS

RUSSIA-UKRAINE

NEGOTIATIONS/TALKS

• Russian President Putin said Russia is not refusing to negotiate with Ukrainians and they continue in an online format, according to Reuters.
• US Secretary of State Blinken said the US has not yet seen a sign that Russian President Putin is serious regarding meaningful negotiations on Ukraine, according to Reuters.
• UN Secretary-General Guterres said Russian President Putin agreed in principle to the UN involvement in Mariupol evacuation, according to Reuters.

DEFENCE/MILITARY/ASSISTANCE

• Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine had lost control over the entire Kherson region as well as parts of three other regions, according to Interfax.
• UK Foreign Minister Truss is to say that Ukraine's fate remains in the balance and the West must prepare for the long-haul, while allies must increase their defence spending, according to Sky News.
• Blasts were heard in Russia's Belgorod and Russia later reported a fire at an ammunition depot in the region, according to TASS.
• Dutch government is to provide a limited number of armoured howitzers to Ukraine, according to ANP.

SANCTIONS/ENERGY/ECONOMIC

• Gazprom informed Bulgaria's Bulgaraz it is to halt gas supplies as of April 27th, according to the Bulgarian Energy Ministry, according to Reuters.Gazprom said it has not suspended gas supplies to Poland and that Poland has to pay for gas on Tuesday under new Rouble rules.
• Polish gas firm PGNIG said Russia is to halt gas deliveries starting April 27th, while other reports later noted that Russian gas supplies to Poland were halted, according to operator data.
• India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is struggling to find a vessel that it can ensure to ship 700k bbls of crude oil from Russia's far east in a sign of sanctions impacting trade flows, according to Reuters.

OTHER

• White House is reportedly worried that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in weeks, according to Reuters.
• US State Department said unresolved complex questions may preclude a return to the JCPOA, according to Sputnik.
• Syrian air defences engaged Israeli aggression over Damascus, while the Syrian Ministry of Defence later stated that four soldiers were killed and three injured following Israel's missile strike, according to state media.

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

• APAC stocks were mostly negative after the losses in the US where participants braced for the large-cap tech results including Alphabet which disappointed, while the region also navigated through a deluge of earnings.
• ASX 200 was dragged lower by underperformance in tech and the consumer-related stocks, while mostly firmer than expected CPI data added to the pressure for the RBA to hike as early as next week.
• Nikkei 225 retreated with the worst-performing stocks in the index pressured by earnings updates.
• Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy as Beijing lockdown fears were stoked after Chaoyang district was classified as high-risk and the Tongzhou district halted schools, although participants also digested firmer Industrial Profits and President Xi’s recent announcement to step up infrastructure construction.
• US equity futures found some reprieve overnight and nursed some of the prior day's heavy losses.
• European equity futures are indicative of a softer open with Eurostoxx 50 -0.4% after the cash market closed lower by 1.0% yesterday.

FX

• DXY traded flat but held on to recent spoils above the 102.00 level after it notched a fresh YTD high.
• EUR/USD remained subdued amid the firmer greenback and printed its lowest level since April 2017.
• GBP/USD languished at the 1.25 handle after the prior day’s underperformance against all G10 counterparts.
• USD/JPY rebounded after finding support at 127.00 to reverse some yesterday’s haven-driven JPY inflows.
• Antipodeans were somewhat varied in which AUD was underpinned by firmer than expected CPI data which stoked expectations for the RBA to act with JPMorgan and SocGen calling for a lift-off at next week’s meeting.

FIXED INCOME

• 10yr UST futures were kept afloat as risk aversion spurred haven appeal and with an eye on month-end.
• Bunds traded rangebound with upside capped by resistance at yesterday’s peak.
• 10yr JGBs remained indecisive after failing to breach 149.50 and following mixed results at the 2yr auction.

COMMODITIES

• Crude futures were flat but held on to yesterday's gains with Russia cutting gas flows to Poland and Bulgaria.
• US Private Energy Inventory Data (bbls): Crude +4.8mln (exp. +2.2mln), Gasoline -3.9mln (exp. +0.5mln), Distillates +0.4mln (exp. -0.6mln), Cushing +1.1mln
• Spot gold marginally declined beneath USD 1900/oz level as the dollar remained firm.
• Copper was lacklustre alongside the mostly negative risk appetite and with the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru mulling taking action to evict the unauthorised campers at the mine.
• MMG 's Las Bambas copper mine in Peru is considering a plan to forcibly evict indigenous communities camped at the mine with Peru's Ombudsman expecting an eviction attempt this Wednesday, according to Reuters.

CRYPTO

• Bitcoin prices attempted to nurse some of the prior day's losses but remained beneath the 39,000 level.

NOTABLE APAC HEADLINES

• PBoC injected CNY 10bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 2.10% for a net neutral daily position.
• PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.5598 vs exp. 6.5614 (prev. 6.5590)
• Beijing's Tongzhou district halted schools due to coronavirus, according to China News.
• Japan's Defence Ministry said a Chinese navy vessel was spotted in its territorial waters near islands in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima which was the first confirmed intrusion by a Chinese vessel since last November, according to Kyodo. It was later reported that Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said Japan conveyed concerns through diplomatic route regarding a Chinese navy vessel entering Japanese waters.

DATA RECAP

• Australian CPI QQ (Q1) 2.1% vs. Exp. 1.7% (Prev. 1.3%)
• Australian CPI YY (Q1) 5.1% vs. Exp. 4.6% (Prev. 3.5%)
• Australian RBA Trimmed Mean CPI QQ (Q1) 1.4% vs. Exp. 1.2% (Prev. 1.0%)
• Australian RBA Trimmed Mean CPI YY (Q1) 3.7% vs. Exp. 3.4% (Prev. 2.6%)
• Chinese Industrial Profits YY (Mar) 12.2% (Prev. 4.2%)
• Chinese Industrial Production YTD YY (Mar) 8.5% (Prev. 5.0%)

UK/EU

NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES

• UK Chancellor Sunak was reportedly urged to cut tax during a recent Cabinet meeting, although he suggested that further moves on tax would have to wait until the autumn budget, according to The Telegraph.
• US and UK trade officials agreed to meet again in June to resume trade dialogue, according to Reuters.
• EU is to move away from the emergency phase of the COVID pandemic, while it is to recommend targeted testing and to begin monitoring COVID-19 in ways similar to flu surveillance, according to a document cited by Reuters.