By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Tuesday morning, with concerns over the geopolitical risks in Ukraine and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tightening of monetary policy to fight inflation continuing to mount.

Japan’s was down 0.27% by 9:26 PM ET (2:26 AM GMT) and South Korea’s edged down 0.11%.

In Australia, the edged down 0.17% and Hong Kong’s edged down 0.15%.

China’s was up 0.44% while the gained 0.45%. The People’s Bank of China into the banking system earlier in the day via its medium-term lending facility (MFL). At 2.85%, the MLF rate remained unchanged.

While diplomatic efforts continue to address the Ukraine crisis, Russia is continuing to reject U.S. accusations that Russia might invade Ukraine in an imminent invasion. Tensions are still a concern for oil markets, and WTI futures trade near $95, the highest level since 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s “sarcastic” comments on Monday about the rest of the world predicting a Russian attack on Wednesday also saw the situation take a bizarre turn.

The possibility of a withdrawal by the Fed of its stimulus and the high level inflation had already made markets nervous before Ukraine’s crisis.

“What we are seeing is a Fed that is reacting to inflationary prints even though many of the pressures on inflation are factors that the Fed really can’t solve,” Invesco chief global market strategist Kristina Hooper told Bloomberg.

“So that certainly increases the risks and reduces the clarity.”

James Bullard, President of Fed Bank of St. Louis said that the central bank must move ahead with plans to increase rates in order to strengthen its credibility as an inflation-fighting institution. His colleague, Fed Bank of Kansas City President Esther George, added the Fed should take a systematic approach in removing policy accommodation but be careful to not “oversteer.”

On Thursday, more Fed officials will be speaking, including Loretta Mester, President of the Cleveland Fed, and James Bullard (President, St. Louis Fed), A day later, the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum will be held with speeches by Charles Evans, Christopher Waller and Lael Brainard.

G-20 finance ministers, central bank governors, and others will be meeting from February 17-18.

On Wednesday, the Fed will also release the. China will release itss one day later, while the U.S. releases theirs later in each day.