Stocks Fall, Oil Leaps As Ukraine Crisis Deepens

The crisis in Ukraine continued to stoke turbulence across global markets, helping send the S&P 500 lower for a second straight month and Russian markets plunging.

Major U.S. indexes swung for much of the trading session before finishing mixed. The S&P 500 lost 10.71 points, or 0.2%, to 4373.94 on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166.15 points, or 0.5%, to 33892.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index turned higher, adding 56.77 points, or 0.4%, to 13751.40.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have lost 8.2% and 12%, respectively, over the past two months, each posting their worst such stretch since March 2020.

For much of February, investors were preoccupied with high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s coming interest rate hikes. This sent Treasury yields above 2% for the first time since mid-2019 and triggered a rush to bearish bets on stocks. Toward the end of the month, geopolitical concerns quickly came to the forefront as Russia invaded Ukraine, sending markets around the globe spiraling.

Monday’s trading continued a turbulent period after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Stock futures slid more than 2% Sunday evening and kicked off the week with declines before clawing back some of the losses.

Investors dumped Russian bonds and the ruble was on track for a record low against the dollar. Market-data services showed limited price updates Monday, suggesting few transactions were taking place. Russian sovereign debt sold off heavily, with the yield on a dollar-denominated note maturing in five years surging to 25% in trading, from 9% Friday.

“There is very little liquidity and consequently you get this gapping in the price and you’re not getting any real reflection of where the ruble would be,” said Jane Foley, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Rabobank.

An exchange-traded fund tracking Russian companies, the VanEck Russia ETF, lost $4.75, or 30%, to $10.85. Russia’s RTS index lost around a third of its value in February, its worst monthly performance since October 2008.

Russia’s central bank opted for an emergency interest-rate hike to combat a collapse in the ruble, more than doubling its benchmark rate to 20%, hours after imposing other restrictions on markets. It also temporarily banned brokers from handling sales of securities by nonresidents and kept the Moscow Stock Exchange closed Monday. It will remain closed Tuesday.

Investors turned to safer assets, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 1.836%, from 1.984% Friday as bond prices rose. Gold prices edged higher, capping the best month since May 2021.

Though the past week has been marked by big swings, U.S. markets have remained relatively insulated from the turmoil spreading through Russian markets.

Major indexes had staged a rally in recent sessions, highlighting the importance that many investors placed on the Federal Reserve’s moves. Investors have rapidly shifted bets on the situation in Europe and how it might affect plans by the central bank to raise interest rates, with some now forecasting a smaller rate increase in March. That has helped lift stocks at times, including on Monday, when the Nasdaq eked out a gain for the third consecutive session.

“It will give the Fed a little bit more leeway to be patient,” said David Sadkin, a partner at Bel Air Investment Advisors.

Some analysts say geopolitical crises typically don’t have prolonged impacts on U.S. stocks and that they expected the recent volatility to pass. Stocks have typically declined around 6% to 8% after a geopolitical event before retracing those losses in another three weeks, Deutsche Bank strategists said in a note to clients.

And among S&P 500 companies, only 1% of revenues stem from Russia and Ukraine, according to FactSet.

“To date we have not decided that we’re going to make any changes based on what is happening in Ukraine,” said Mark Stoeckle, chief executive officer of Adams Funds.

Major indexes were volatile in trading throughout the session on the last day of the month, briefly edging into the green before collapsing again. Some investors have lately used intraday volatility to step in and buy stocks.

“This generally doesn’t impact our view of the U.S. markets,” said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, of the conflict. Mr. Bailey added that his firm had picked up shares of companies like Nvidia recently, which had been bruised this year.

Still, companies domestically and abroad faced mammoth swings. Defence stocks rallied, with U.S.-based Northrop Grumman jumping $32.47, or 7.9%, to $442.14, a record. It was one of the best performers in the S&P 500.

London-listed shares of Russian companies plunged, with Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, down 74%.

“There’s an enormous amount of volatility and nervousness,” said Fahad Kamal, chief investment officer at Kleinwort Hambros. “The risk of miscalculation or something getting out of hand has increased.”

Oil prices rose, with front-month Brent futures gaining more than 10% this month to $100.99 a barrel, notching the largest three-month percentage gain since January 2021. Brent prices last week surged to about $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 as investors calculated how the invasion could snarl the movement of resources in the region.

Over the weekend the U.S., European Union, Canada and the U.K. said they intended to cut off some Russian banks from the Swift network, a global payment system that connects international banks and facilitates cross-border financial transfers. The U.S. said it would sanction Russia’s central bank, a move to stop the bank from deploying its more than $600 billion in reserves to aid the Russian economy.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear-deterrence forces to be put on alert. The move would put Russia’s network of nuclear missiles into a state in which it could be used if necessary.

Bitcoin prices rose 11% to $41,650.25 Monday, the largest one-day gain since May.

European banks declined, with the Euro Stoxx banking subindex down 5.7%. BNP Paribas fell 7.5% and Société Générale shares dropped 9.9%.

“With Swift, there will be problems processing payments. That creates credit risk, not only for European banks with affiliates in Russia but more broadly, those with clients in Russia,” said Sebastien Galy, a macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management.

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 also recouped some losses, closing down 0.1%. It finished lower for a second consecutive month, its worst two-month decline since April 2020.

In Asia-Pacific, stock markets were mixed, with major benchmarks gaining or losing less than 1%.

After years in the doldrums, European banks have cleaned up their balance sheets, cut costs and started earning more on loans.

The result: Stock prices have surged and lenders are preparing to hand back some $130 billion to shareholders this year. Even dealmaking within the sector, long a taboo topic, is back, with BBVA of Spain resurrecting an approach for smaller rival Sabadell .

The resurgence is enriching a small group of hedge funds and others who started building contrarian bets on European lenders when they were out of favour. Beneficiaries include hedge-fund firms such as Basswood Capital Management and so-called value investors such as Pzena Investment Management and Smead Capital Management.

It is also bringing in new investors, enticed by still-depressed share prices and promising payouts.

“There’s still a lot of juice left to squeeze,” said Bennett Lindenbaum, co-founder of Basswood, a hedge-fund firm based in New York that focuses on the financial sector.

Basswood began accumulating positions around 2018. European banks were plagued by issues including political turmoil in Italy and money-laundering scandals . Meanwhile, negative interest rates had hammered profits.

Still, Basswood’s team figured valuations were cheap, lenders had shored up capital and interest rates wouldn’t stay negative forever. The firm set up a European office and scooped up stock in banks such as Deutsche Bank , UniCredit and BNP Paribas .

Fast forward to 2024, and European banking stocks are largely beating big U.S. banks this year. Shares in many, such as Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank , have hit multiyear highs .

A long-only version of Basswood’s European banks and financials strategy—which doesn’t bet on stocks falling—has returned approximately 18% on an annualised basis since it was launched in 2021, before fees and expenses, Lindenbaum said.

The industry’s turnaround reflects years spent cutting costs and jettisoning bad loans, plus tougher operating rules that lifted capital levels. That meant banks were primed to profit when benchmark interest rates turned positive in 2022.

On a key measure of profitability, return on equity, the continent’s 20 largest banks overtook U.S. counterparts last year for the first time in more than a decade, Deutsche Bank analysts say.

Reflecting their improved health, European banks could spend almost as much as 120 billion euros, or nearly $130 billion, on dividends and share buybacks this year, according to Bank of America analysts.

If bank mergers pick up, that could mean takeover offers at big premiums for investors in smaller lenders. European banks were so weak for so long, dealmaking stalled. Acquisitive larger banks like BBVA could reap the rewards of greater scale and cost efficiencies, assuming they don’t overpay.

“European banks, in general, are cheaper, better capitalised, more profitable and more shareholder friendly than they have been in many years. It’s not surprising there’s a lot of new investor interest in identifying the winners in the sector,” said Gustav Moss, a partner at the activist investor Cevian Capital, which has backed institutions including UBS .

As central banks move to cut interest rates, bumper profits could recede, but policy rates aren’t likely to return to the negative levels banks endured for almost a decade. Stock prices remain modest too, with most far below the book value of their assets.

Among the biggest winners are investors in UniCredit . Shares in the Italian lender have more than quadrupled since Andrea Orcel became chief executive in 2021, reaching their highest levels in more than a decade.

Under the former UBS banker, UniCredit has boosted earnings and started handing large sums back to shareholders , after convincing the European Central Bank the business was strong enough to make large payouts.

Orcel said European banks are increasingly attracting investors like hedge funds with a long-term view, and with more varied portfolios, like pension funds.

He said that investor-relations staff initially advised him that visiting U.S. investors was important to build relationships—but wasn’t likely to bear fruit, given how they viewed European banks. “Now Americans ask you for meetings,” Orcel said.

UniCredit is the second-largest position in Phoenix-based Smead Capital’s $126 million international value fund. It started investing in August 2022, when UniCredit shares traded around €10. They now trade at about €35.

Cole Smead , the firm’s chief executive, said the stock has further to run, partly because UniCredit can now consider buying rivals on the cheap.

Sentiment has shifted so much that for some investors, who figure the biggest profits are to be made betting against the consensus, it might even be time to pull back. A recent Bank of America survey found regional investors had warmed to European banks, with 52% of respondents judging the sector attractive.

And while bets on banks are now paying off, trying to bottom-fish in European banking stocks has burned plenty of investors over the past decade. Investments have tied up money that could have made far greater returns elsewhere.

Deutsche Bank, for instance, underwent years of scandals and big losses before stabilising under Chief Executive Christian Sewing . Rewarding shareholders, he said, is now the bank’s priority.

U.S. private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management built stakes in Deutsche Bank and domestic rival Commerzbank in 2017, only to sell a chunk when shares were down in 2022. The investor struggled to make changes at Commerzbank.

A Cerberus spokesman said it remains “bullish and committed to the sector,” with bank investments in Poland and France. It retains shares in both Deutsche and Commerzbank, and is an investor in another German lender, the unlisted Hamburg Commercial Bank.

Similarly, Capital Group also invested in both Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, only to sell roughly 5% stakes in both banks in 2022—at far below where they now trade. Last month, Capital Group disclosed buying shares again in Deutsche Bank, lifting its holding above 3%. A spokeswoman declined to comment.

U.S.-based Pzena, which manages some $64 billion in assets, has backed banks such as UBS and U.K.-listed HSBC , NatWest and Barclays .

Pzena reckoned balance sheets, capital positions and profitability would all eventually improve, either through higher interest rates or as business models shifted. Still, some changes took longer than expected. “I don’t think anyone would have thought the ECB would keep rates negative for eight or nine years,” said portfolio manager Miklos Vasarhelyi.

Some Pzena investments date as far back as 2009 and 2010, Vasarhelyi said. “We’ve been waiting for this to turn for a long time.”

Stocks Fall, Oil Leaps As Ukraine Crisis Deepens

Russian ruble plunges to record low before recovering moderately.

Shares in European banks such as UniCredit have been on a tear