By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Monday morning, with extending gains, as continue to impact global markets.

Japan’s slid 2.28% by 10:19 PM ET (3:19 AM GMT), re-opening after a holiday.

South Korea’s fell 1.40% while in Australia, the was up 0.36%.

Hong Kong’s fell 1.06%.

China’s was down 0.54% and the was down 0.40%.

Concerns are mounting that Russia’s military buildup near its border with Ukraine enters a potentially decisive phase. While the U.S. warned of a Russian invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that they have failed to fulfill his requests.

Russia denies any invasion plans, and the countries continue a diplomatic effort to end this situation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to travel to Ukraine on Tuesday and Russia later that day for talks.

This adds volatility to an already volatile market, which is already impacted by high inflation and the potential for U.S. Federal Reserve increase in interest rates. If Russian energy supplies become disrupted, a decline in Eastern Europe may increase price pressure.

This is likely “to result in a far more volatile ride than 2021, and we are already seeing this,” AMP (OTC:) Investments senior economist Diana Mousina said in a note.

According to Ray Sharma-Ong, abrdn plc investment director multi-asset solutions, there has been a temporary increase in Treasuries’ demand, but inflation risks may be more significant, Ray Sharma-Ong says.

U.S. inflation will likely peak in the April release and “as a result of that, markets will get jittery and price in a few more hikes,” he told Bloomberg.

Ahead of the minutes from the Fed’s last meeting, to be released on Wednesday, the central bank should be measured and data-dependent as it starts hiking U.S. interest rates to ensure stability, according to San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly.

Some of Daly’s colleagues, including Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, will also speak on Thursday. One day later will occur the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum with Fed officials Charles Evans and Christopher Waller as well as Lael brainard.

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde will participate in a parliament debate on the central bank’s annual report later in the day. G-20 finance ministers, central bank governors, and other key decision-makers will be meeting from February 17 to 18.

The U.S. data will be released on Tuesday while China’s will follow a day later.