Stocks make small gains but investors cautious: Ukraine crisis

Stocks markets saw some small gains on Wednesday but oil spiked further and the rouble fell, as Russia showed no signs of stopping its assault on Ukraine.

A week after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the bombardments of Ukrainian cities continued while Western nations tightened sanctions on Moscow.

U.S. President Joe Biden banned Russian planes from U.S. air space, warning Putin had "no idea what's coming."

European stocks made some tentative gains, having initially opened in the red. The STOXX 600 was up 0.1% on the day at 1232 GMT , while Germany's DAX was also up 0.1%.

European banking shares recovered somewhat, having fallen after the European arm of Russia's Sberbank was forced to close. Oil prices surged, with Brent crude touching $113.02 – its highest since 2014 – and U.S. crude coming close to passing its 2013 peak.

The U.S. 10-year yield was at 1.7684%, picking up slightly, having dropped sharply in the previous two sessions.Germany's benchmark 10-year government bond yield was up 6 bps. On Tuesday, it plunged back into negative territory in its sharpest single-day drop since 2011 — a sign of investor demand for the safe-haven asset.

The best performing ETFs were those exposed to European healthcare and utilities, he said, as well as energy-linked ETFs.

Top asset manager BlackRock Inc said on Tuesday it was consulting with regulators, index providers and other market participants to help clients exit their positions in Russian securities where allowed.

The rouble was down around 3.5% on the day versus the dollar, at 108.7 , having weakened to a record low of 117 per dollar on Tuesday.

Foreign investors are effectively stuck with their holdings of rouble-denominated bonds, known as OFZs, after the Russian central bank put a temporary halt on coupon payments and a major overseas' settlement system stopped accepting Russian assets. JP Morgan analysts said in a note the sanctions on Russia have "significantly increased the likelihood of a Russia government hard currency bond default".

The U.S. dollar index was up 0.2% . The euro was down 0.2% at $1.11025, and hit a new seven-year low against the Swiss franc.