By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Monday morning, holding steady as efforts to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine continue.

China’s was up 0.31% by 10:53 PM ET (2:53 AM GMT) and the rose 0.96%. The People’s Bank of China stuck to expectations, keeping the one-year loan prime rate at 3.70% and the five-year LPR at 4.60%.

Hong Kong’s inched down 0.05%.

South Korea’s was down 0.27%. Australia’s was down 0.15 percent, due to the ban on alumina imports to Russia.

Japanese markets close for holidays

The U.S. contract market suffered a decline. Together with the movements in Asia Pacific this indicated that global equities had taken a break from their highest weekly performance for 16 months.

It is unclear whether this week they will sustain the slight volatility dip from the week before. China’s vow to support its markets and economy is also providing a small boost.

The conflict triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 is entering its fifth week. Although Turkey stated that Russia and Ukraine are closer to talks, Russia made an ultimatum calling for Mariupol’s surrender in south Ukraine.

It also continued to have an impact on the bond market, alongside the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent monetary policy tightening. A flattening Treasury yield curve and inverted portions of it is an indication that the economy may slow down. Because of the Japanese holiday there has been no cash trade in Asia.

While markets are deriving hope from the peace talks, “the truth is a bit more complex because, unfortunately, we have major devastation going on,” Mizuho Bank Ltd. head of economics and strategy Vishnu Varathan told Bloomberg. “Uncertainty remains elevated,” he added.

Jerome Powell, the Fed chairman, will be speaking later that day alongside Raphael Bostic (the Atlanta Fed president). The announcement comes just a week after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke.

However, “our concern is that the Fed is tightening into an economic slowdown as it prioritizes high inflation,” Manulife Investment Management head of macro strategy for Asia Sue Trinh told Bloomberg.

“We think it will balance that trade-off of slower growth, higher inflation by lagging the market pricing in terms of the pace, the magnitude, and the duration of this tightening cycle,” she added.

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank will be speaking at BIS Innovation Summit 2022. Andrew Bailey, Governor of Bank of England and Powell will follow a day later.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will also deliver his “spring statement” on the budget on Wednesday and U.S. President Joe Biden will attend a NATO emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday.