The Russian invasion of Ukraine threw financial markets into turmoil during the month which saw equity markets continue their slide from January. Higher energy prices due to uncertainty over supply from Russian saw European markets particularly hard hit, falling 4.3%. The US market declined 3% as rising fuel prices added to the already concerning inflation outlook. The Australian market was a standout, improving by 2.1% due to strong commodity prices especially crude oil +8.6%, coal +23%, iron ore +8% and gold +5.8%. The inflationary impact of higher energy prices pushed bond yields up, with US 10-year treasuries up 9 basis points to 1.86% while the Australian 10-year bond was 27 basis points higher finishing at 2.17%. As a commodity-based currency, the $A firmed by 2% to finish the month at US 73 cents.