While the news actually broke earlier, once the headline that Russia denies an "ultimatum" threat to assault the Ukrainian fleet hit Reuters, the algos smashed USDJPY higher and that lifted stocks on a huge volume spike ($3.7bn notional in first minute) up to near VWAP.
Reuters:
- RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET SAYS IT HAS NO PLANS TO LAUNCH ASSAULT ON UKRAINIAN MILITARY UNITS IN CRIMEA - INTERFAX NEWS AGENCY
Bloomberg:
- *RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SAID TO DENY UKRAINE ULTIMATUM
[5]
Interestingly, no follow-through and not even enough juice to hit VWAP... despite USDJPY's best efforts to get S&P futures back to that balance point...
[6]
Charts: Bloomberg