Geoffrey Smith 

The risk assets of Investing.com, and other cryptos are lower when there is concern about war in Ukraine. The U.S. Futures aren’t able to bounce back despite the recent violent selloff. Oil edges lower as Iran says it’s closing in on a deal to remove U.S. sanctions, while Unilever (NYSE:) stock soars on reports that the scourge of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:), Nelson Peltz, has taken a stake in it. This is what you should know about financial markets Monday 24 January.

1. Bitcoin is now 50% lower than ATH

The selloff of cryptocurrencies continues, adding to a spiral of liquidity and losing technical momentum.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency fell another 6.7% to $33,569 as of 5:55 AM ET (1055 GMT) and is now down over 50% from the all-time high it posted only two months ago. CryptoQuant, which is based in Korea, has found that 38% of the Bitcoins ever mined are now at loss. This compares to 34% when the peak ratio was 34%.

These developments occur as interest rates rise, putting pressure on both risk assets and leveraged portfolios. More concretely, it follows fresh evidence of the world’s central banks clamping down on private digital currencies after the Russian Central Bank proposed an outright ban on mining and use of cryptocurrency.

2. Ukraine fears trigger broad selloff

The Russian-Ukrainian border continues to penalize risk assets. Both the U.S., and the U.K. instructed their families to evacuate Ukraine for the sake of Russian invasion.

The New York Times and others reported that President Joe Biden is considering the dispatch of up to 50,000 combat troops to Ukraine, while the U.K. – whose government warned at the weekend of Russian intentions to instal a puppet government in the country after invading – has reportedly sent some 2,000 anti-tank launcher system to Ukraine.

Russia dismissed U.K.’s allegations as baseless. On Friday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said the country has no intention of sending troops into Ukraine.  Russian assets were still under severe pressure on Monday. The ruble dropped nearly 2% against the dollar to its lowest level in 14 months, and the benchmark RTS stock market index plummeted 9.4% to its lowest point in 14 months. European stock markets dropped by approximately 1%

3. Stocks poised to expand losses. Peltz ignites a flame under Unilever

The risk-off mood in America is worsening due to developments in Eastern Europe, and the U.S. stock market will open lower.

At 6:15 AM ET they had lost their early gains and were flat. However, they were still well above overnight lows. They were 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. Market had looked ready to rebound from its lowest point in several months. The Dow fell 4.6% while the 5.7% lost and the 7.6% lost respectively.

Unilever is likely to come under scrutiny later, following news that Nelson Peltz, an activist investor in Unilever has purchased an undisclosed stake. Peltz had led a campaign for change U.S. peer Procter & Gamble in recent years.  

This week’s earnings start quietly. Updates from Halliburton, NYSE:), are out early and often from IBM (NYSE:) After the close.

4. Omicron launches European services January 1st; Draghi is pushed upstairs by Italy

The Eurozone economy stuttered in January as the wave of Omicron-variant of Covid-19 disrupted the service sector in both of the region’s two biggest economies.

IHSMarkit’s composite purchasing managers’ index for the region fell by more than expected to 52.4, according to a preliminary reading, due largely to a slump in the French service sector. Manufacturing in France and Germany performed well despite signs of supply chain bottlenecks decreasing.

However, Deutsche Bundesbank’s monthly report warned that Germany’s economy may contract in the fourth quarter.

Italy, another member of the Eurozone will begin its formal process to nominating a president on Monday. The evidence so far suggests that former ECB President Mario Draghi will move upstairs from the Prime Minister’s office, allowing the normal rough and tumble of Italian politics to resume.  Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, withdrew from his candidacy this weekend leaving Draghi as the only alternative.

5. Abu Dhabi news: Oil drops on Iran

After Iranian negotiators stated that they were closer to an agreement on lifting U.S. sanctions, which would remove an artificial constraint from global supply, oil prices fell.

According to reports, this constraint appears to have been significantly reduced over the past year due to maneuvers made by Chinese buyers in order to circumvent the existing sanctions.

Additionally, the United Arab Emirates reported that it shot down more long-range missile aimed at the city of Abu Dhabi by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, something that eased fears of fresh disruptions to exports from one of OPEC’s more reliable suppliers.

Futures fell 0.4% to $84.77 per barrel by 6:30 ET. They were 0.4% lower at $86.75 per barrel at the same time.