The market moves come after Wagner Group mercenaries mutinied Saturday, taking control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don – which Vladimir Putin called a"betrayal" and"a stab in the back".
But the group's chief Prigozhin ordered his troops – who were within hours of Moscow – to turn back from marching on the Russian capital later on Saturday, claiming he didn't want to shed a drop of Russian blood.Prigozhin's sudden truce with Putin likely calmed investors' nerves, according to strategists.
"The uprising in Russia could have sent shockwaves across equity and commodity markets but an apparent U-turn has meant only marginal volatility rather than a full-blown correction," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said Monday. But commodity analysts also warned that crude prices could be squeezed higher while the market waits to gauge the longer-term impact of the Wagner rebellion.
"We are likely to see a marginal uptick in oil prices in the coming days, if the situation does not deteriorate further," Jorge Leon, a senior vice president at Rystad Energy, wrote in a note to clients Sunday.