Wall Street edged lower ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday and oil prices rose as Western governments considered more sanctions against Moscow in response to evidence Russian soldiers deliberately killed civilians.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials and S & P 500 each slipped about 0.2 per cent in premarket trading.
Benchmarks rose in Frankfurt, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Paris and London.
Many Asian markets, including those in China, were closed for holidays.
Russia’s withdrawal from areas near Ukrainian capital Kyiv led to the discovery of corpses, prompting accusations of war crimes and demands for tougher sanctions on Moscow.
Such moves add to uncertainty and could push up already high prices of oil and gas, among other commodities.
The invasion of Ukraine has elevated concerns about rising inflation and the impact on global economic growth.
Prices for everything from food to clothing were already rising and the war has added to volatility for energy prices since Europe depends on Russia for a large share of its oil and gas.
European leaders have appeared split over how to respond to the latest developments in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron said new punitive measures were needed.
Poland urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy, while Germany said it would stick with a gradual approach of phasing out coal and oil imports over the next several months.
US crude climbed 67 cents to USD103.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Brent crude was up 59 cents at USD108.12 per barrel.
The price of US benchmark crude jumped 4 per cent on Monday and Brent crude, the standard for international pricing, rose 3 per cent.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.3 per cent, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.3 per cent and Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.1 per cent.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2 per cent to 27,787.98 and the Kospi in Seoul eked out a 0.1 per cent gain, to 2,759.20.
The S & P/ASX 200 gained 0.2per cent to 7,527.90. India’s Sensex slipped 0.1 per cent.
Chinese markets were closed for Tomb Sweeping holidays, but many in the largest city, Shanghai, were under lockdown due to a worsening coronavirus outbreak.
Shanghai recorded another 13,354 cases on Monday — the vast majority of them asymptomatic — bringing the city’s total to more than 73,000 since the latest wave of infections began last month.
Outbreaks in China and resulting restrictions on business and other activities could further worsen the slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
The World Bank downgraded its 2022 growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region to 5 per cent from 5.4 per cent, in part due to disruptions to supplies of commodities, financial strains and higher prices related to the war in Ukraine.
That follows a rebound to 7.2 per cent growth in 2021 after many economies experienced downturns with the onset of the pandemic.
The report issued on Tuesday forecasts slower growth and rising poverty in the Asia-Pacific region this year as “multiple shocks” compound troubles for people and for businesses.
The Fed is due to release minutes from its last meeting on Wednesday.
In currency trading, the US dollar was up slightly to 122.95 Japanese yen. The euro dipped to USD1.0965 from USD1.0976.
