Summary:

• The US together with the UK and France launched air strikes against targets in Syria
• Syrian President Assad says air strikes on his country were “an act of aggression”
• SP500 futures (US500 on xStation5) is set to open higher, but still keeps hovering below their remarkably important resistance

The Western allies including the United States, France and the United Kingdom decided to strike three targets in Syria in retaliation for a supposed deadly chemical attack carried out by the Syrian authorities against their own people in the city of Douma. In its official statement the Pentagon said that among targets there were three chemical weapons facilities including research and development centre in the Barzech district of Damascus and two installations near Homs. It said that the assault was not aimed at civilians but against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his superpower ally Russia. Furthermore, US President Donald Trump warned the Syrian government afterwards that the US is “locked and loaded” to strike once again when it carries out further chemical attacks. Concurrently, Assad said the Western missile strikes on his country were an act of aggression, according to Russian news agencies.

Here are places where air strikes were carried out (marked by X). Source: The Guardian

At the same time, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley added on Sunday that “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will be announcing new sanctions against Russian on Monday, and they will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use”. All of that means that Russian assets could be impacted severely once again while most of other markets seem to play down geopolitical risks coming from Syria, at least for the time being.

Taking a quick look at currencies one cannot see that investors have rushed to safe haven assets so far even as the Japanese yen is strengthening a bit in the morning. Do notice that gold investors do not care about Syrian air strikes as the metal price keeps moving around its close from Friday. Finally the US500 is trading 0.3% higher nonetheless bulls have yet to jump above their crucial supply zone placed at 2680 points. However, once the price closes above this mark at a daily time frame it could set the stage for further gains despite geopolitical risks.

The US500 is struggling nearby its notable resistance shrugging off geopolitical risks. Should the price move through 2680 points successfully, it would enable bulls to continue climbing. Source: xStation5