By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Friday morning, with a rally in Chinese shares in the U.S. cooling. Investors are continuing to digest mixed signals regarding the peace process in Ukraine.

Japan’s was up 0.28% by 10:36 PM ET (2:36 AM GMT), with the handing down its monetary policy earlier in the day. The (CPI) also grew 0.6% in February 2022, according to data. CPI national grew by 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively.

South Korea’s inched down 0.02% while in Australia, the was up 0.32%

Hong Kong’s slid 1.7%.

China’s inched up 0.02% while the fell 0.64%. As investors wait for the government to take action on its promise of stabilizing markets, U.S.-traded Chinese stocks eased an historic rally.

The ceasefire talks to resolve conflict stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 are also on investors’ radars. However, Russia has cast doubt on the talks’ progress and the Pentagon warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may threaten to use nuclear weapons if the conflict drags on.

In recent days, global shares rose and now stand at their highest level since November 2020. It suggests that many of the fears surrounding the inflationary commodities shock and conflict in Ukraine’s future are beginning to ease.

But, if Federal Reserve Monetary Policy is not tightened and continued fighting goes on, it could lead to more swings across the assets.

“I don’t necessarily expect the rest of the year to be that easy,” RBC Capital Markets LLC head of U.S. equity strategy Lori Calvasina told Bloomberg.

“Volatility is likely to stay elevated for quite some time” even as sentiment gauges “have been a screaming buy in some respects for quite some time.”

Later that day, Xi Jinping and Biden will be discussing the Ukraine crisis with their Chinese counterparts. Biden will warn of “costs” if China backs Russia, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to end Russia’s Most Favored Nation status, leading the way to sharply higher tariffs on Russian goods. S&P Global (NYSE:) Ratings also slashed Russia’s credit score to CC, saying its debt is “highly vulnerable to nonpayment.”

However, JPMorgan Chase & Co. processed funds for interest payments due on Russian government dollar bonds, which eased fears of a default.

U.S. data indicated that permits for building were at 1.859 millions, with a contracting of 1.9% in February. While it rose 6.8%, the reading was 1.69 million.

Data also revealed that industrial production increased by 7.45% and 0.5%, respectively. This supported U.S. Federal Chairman Jerome Powell’s view that the economy can withstand monetary tightening.

Investors are now bracing for the quarterly triple witching event later in the day, where roughly $3.5 trillion of single-stock and index-level options are set to expire, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.