• Asia-Pacific markets drift lower amid mixed concerns over Russia-Ukraine.
• BOJ couldn’t please Japanese traders despite extending easy-money policy.
• China’s covid numbers renew upside, west warns over Russia’s usage of chemical weapon.
• US President Biden, Chinese leader Xi will hold a telephone call, Turkey pushes for Putin-Zelenskyy meet.

Global market sentiment wanes during early Friday, after nearly three days of upbeat performance, as anxiety over Ukraine’s peace talks with Russia intensifies. Also challenging the sentiment could be western statements over the Kyiv-Moscow tussle and fresh increase in Chinas’ COVID-19 numbers.

Above all, cautious mood ahead of a telephone call between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping challenge the bulls.

That said, the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan drops near 2.0% whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises around 0.30% intraday during the early morning in Europe.

Japanese equities fail to cheer the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) status-quo, as well as readiness to offer more subsidies to counter inflation due to the Ukraine crisis.

Read: BOJ keeps monetary policy steady, leaves guidance intact

China takes Hang Seng down as Reuters reports an uptick in the daily virus infections following a two-day reduction from record top. Earlier in the day, reports of factory production restart in five districts of Shenzen kept buyers hopeful.

It should be noted that the shares in Australia and New Zealand remain firmer whereas markets in India are off due to Holi.

On a broader front, the US Treasury yields remain downbeat and the stock futures also print losses while the US Dollar Index (DXY) snaps a three-day downtrend but stays negative on a weekly basis.

Looking forward, a light calendar may test momentum traders but geopolitical headlines and any updates on Turkey’s efforts to have a personal meeting of Russian President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be important to watch.

Read: S&P 500 Futures contradict Nikkei 225’s mild gains, US Treasury yields remain softer amid sluggish session