BREAKING: Equities jump on Lavrov's comments

European stock market indices and US futures jumped in the early afternoon following comments from Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. Lavrov said that while no agreement between Russia and the West on de-escalation was reached, there is always a chance to find the agreement. Lavrov said that he will continue to talk with Western countries but also warned that indefinite talks are not possible in the current situation. Lavrov repeated that Russia's build-up of troops near the Ukraine border is a response to NATO countries moving troops and equipment to Eastern European countries. Putin agreed to Lavrov's proposal to continue talks with NATO.

DE30 jumped around 150 points following comments from Lavrov and managed to climb back above the 15,000 pts area. US500 jumped around 1% in a matter of minutes and is now testing the 4,420 pts area. Gold, CHF and JPY moved lower. Oil also dropped as potential de-escalation would mean less risk to security of oil supply. However, traders should be aware that such comments are expected to be made numerous times in the coming days and markets are vulnerable to trade on headlines now.

US500 jumped following comments from Russia's Lavrov. Source: xStation5