March 01, 2022: -On Monday, U.S. stock futures moved lower early but were off their morning lows as Russian and Ukraine officials gathered to talk about a potential end to the hostilities between the two sides. Dow futures are decreasing 380 points or nearly 1.1%. S&P 500 futures fell 1.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures has lost 1.2%. Dow futures were off more than 500 points earlier.

The moves come amid turmoil over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have held critical cities, including the capital of Kyiv. At the same time, Ukrainian officials have arrived near the border for talks with Russian officials.

In the most recent financial developments, the Central Bank of Russia over doubled its key interest rate to 20% from 9.5% in reaction to a currency move that experienced the ruble tumble almost 16% against the U.S. dollar.

“We may have seen the sharpest depreciation of the ruble in modern history, but this is hardly a bottom,” wrote Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro senior market analyst. “It will be possible to talk about movement towards stabilization only after appropriate steps from politicians,” he further wrote.

In the U.S. premarket trading., defense stocks such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman increased while central banks’ shares were under pressure.

The U.S. joined allies in Europe and Canada more than the weekend to bar key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT. The system connects over 11,000 banks and financial institutions in 200 countries and territories.

Russian military vehicles entered Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv with reports of fighting and residents warning to stay in shelters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert on Sunday between a growing global backlash against the invasion. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said representatives for Ukraine and Russia have agreed to meet on the Ukraine-Belarus border “with no preconditions.”

U.S. and global equities experienced volatile trading last week as geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated. On Thursday, local time, Moscow launched military action in Ukraine.

On Monday, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude future rose more than 5% to around $96.30 per barrel. The April Brent crude futures contract also surged nearly 5% to $102.75 per barrel, while natural gas futures were increased to 4% to $2.84.

Government bond yields were sharply lower across the curve, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 1.916%, off 6.8 basis points on the session. A basis point is 0.01%; yields move opposite prices and are lower amid high demand for safe-haven bonds.