New York CNN Business Ukrainian forces have made sweeping advances in September in their fight against Russia, easing investor fears of a prolonged war-induced energy crisis in Europe.
European markets closed higher Friday, as did markets in the Asia-Pacific region, jumped more than 200 points in the US, and the major indexes appeared to be on track to end a three-week slump.
Joseph Brusuelas, Chief economist at RSM US, said equity prices tend to go up on news of Ukrainian gains or improvement on the ground.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Friday that the country's military has taken more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of the month, as they continue to press on in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
Over the past three days Ukrainian forces have raised their country's flag in the Kharkiv settlement of Shevchenkove, an important Russian logistics hub inside Ukraine, a photo geolocated by CNN shows.
If you map those three days over the market, it's clear that this is a contributing factor to equity gains, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. She added that this is good news, even at the margin.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has slowed global growth and raised inflation through large energy supply disruptions - Russia accounts for more than 10% of global oil and natural gas production. A spike in commodities prices has resulted in a disruption of grain supply.
Investor sentiment has been dampened by an energy price shock and central bank pivot to fight inflation in Europe. The prices of gas continue to go up in Europe as prices of gas continue to go up in the winter.
The lack of energy is predicted to bring down the European Union's economy this winter. Anthony Denier, CEO of Webull, said that Europe is in a recession and will affect U.S. trade. If Ukraine continues to post victories, the gas issue may be solved and everyone will be happy. People are buying stock today. The fight in Ukraine is just one factor that has an impact on markets in a week full of central bank news, economic policy changes and new economic data.
The war could drag on for a long time, and Ukraine's spate of victories doesn't mean the problems the war poses will end soon. The investors have made themselves clear. President Zelenskiy seems to understand that sentiment.