Market risk sentiment continues, G7 sanctions on Russia intensify

Western nations on Monday pledged unwavering support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, with Ukrainian officials saying 28 civilians were killed in Russian attacks, including a missile strike on a crowded shopping mall. Meeting in Germany, G7 leaders said they would continue to impose sanctions on Russia for as long as necessary and increase international pressure on President Vladimir Putin's government and its ally Belarus.

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Sweden's central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points to 0.75% later this week, stepping up efforts to combat soaring inflation. Affected by the epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, the intensity and persistence of inflation has troubled the Riksbank. Rate policymakers changed course by raising interest rates by 25 basis points in April, but their plans for gradual policy tightening at the time were widely seen as too modest.

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U.S. Treasury-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were set to see their biggest inflows in at least eight years in the second quarter of this year, as investors scrambled to put money into safer bonds amid fears of a recession and rising inflation. Treasuries ETFs have seen $42.4 billion in inflows so far this quarter, the largest since at least September 2014, according to Refinitiv Tripper data. The first quarter was an inflow of $24 billion.

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G7 leaders have agreed to push for a ban on Russian gold imports as part of tightening sanctions against Russia. Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada previously agreed that they would ban imports of newly mined or refined Russian gold, while the European Union expressed some reservations.

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Goldman Sachs economists believe the euro may remain supported in the coming weeks against the backdrop of hawkish ECB expectations. Goldman economists have lower-than-consensus forecasts for economic growth in the second half of the year and see a significant risk of further disruptions to natural gas supplies remaining, which would push the probability of a near-term recession to around 40%. But at the same time, economists find it difficult to be completely bearish on the euro at a time when the European Central Bank has made a major policy change - exiting negative interest rates for the first time in eight years.

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The international rating agency Moody's (Moody's) determined on the 27th that Russia's European debt has defaulted. On the 27th, the Russian Ministry of Finance stated that Russia has completed the repayment of Eurobonds on schedule, and Russia has never refused to perform its debt repayment obligations to any investor. It is not expressly stipulated in the relevant contracts that the failure to receive payments from Eurobond investors due to the actions of third parties is regarded as a default of debt.

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The UK and much of Europe have decided to make Pfizer's vaccine a second shot for certain age groups following reports that AstraZeneca's vaccine could cause side effects in some recipients, creating a natural mashup inoculation experiments. The latest data from the UK shows that this particular mash-up has developed additional immunity to the Omikron variant compared to people who have been vaccinated with other vaccines.