Russian troops continue to close in on Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, as Moscow defied new sanctions imposed by Western powers. European stock indexes rebounded, but the market on Wall Street will open lower ahead of a flood of economic data that could guide the Federal Reserve at next week’s monetary policy-setting meeting. Crude oil prices stabilized while traders “digested” the new measures. Here’s what you need to know about the financial market on Friday, February 25.

1. Russia defies new sanctions and approaches Kiev

The Russian offensive in Ukraine continued Friday as troops approached the capital, Kiev, after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation on Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden responded Thursday night by announcing broader sanctions aimed at preventing Russia from doing business using major world currencies, as well as sanctions against banks and state-owned enterprises.

“This will impose serious costs on the Russian economy both immediately and over time,” Biden said.

The EU, following the US, froze Russian assets in the bloc and cut off Russian banks’ access to the region’s financial markets. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the measures “the toughest package of sanctions we have ever applied”.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the ongoing Russian military operation against his country has shown that sanctions are not enough.

Whether he’s right or wrong, it’s hard to imagine what could have been done to provoke an immediate response from Moscow.

Russia has accumulated more than $600 billion in foreign currency reserves, which have grown by more than 75% since Crimea became part of Russia in 2014, boosted by rising oil and gas prices. Russia’s current account surplus of 5% of annual GDP and government debt-to-GDP ratio of 20% are among the lowest in the world, while only half of Russia’s liabilities are denominated in dollars, up from 80% two decades ago.

2. European market rallied and Goldman lowered Stoxx 600 year-end target

European stock indexes on Friday, show some resilience, trading higher after sharp losses in the previous session.

Investors piled into cash and equities in the week through Wednesday as equity positioning showed “zero signs of capitulation,” according to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)’s weekly flow of funds report released Friday.

According to the bank, which analyzes EPFR data, the global market saw $7 billion in cash and $6.2 billion in equities, while at the same time investors pulled $3.5 billion out of bonds.

The data collection ended on Wednesday, a day before President Putin ordered Russian troops to conduct a military operation in its southern neighbor.

Goldman Sachs took a more cautious stance, lowering its year-end target for Europe’s main stock index, the pan-European Stoxx 600, saying stocks in the region are likely to face risks for some time.

The influential U.S. investment bank now expects the index to reach 490 points, up from an earlier 12-month target of 530 points.

At 06:10 a.m. ET (11:10 a.m. GMT), the STOXX 600 index was trading 1.8% higher to 446.64, having closed Thursday at 438.96, having fallen to a nine-month low after Russia’s military action in Ukraine began.

3- The U.S. market is set to open lower, and Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:BYND) shares are down

U.S. stock indexes are set to open lower, losing some of Thursday’s gains as Russian troops approach the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

By 06:00 a.m. ET (11:00 a.m. GMT), the Dow Jones futures were down 300 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 futures were down 0.9% and the Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.8%.

Wall Street’s major indexes staged a stunning recovery on Thursday, falling sharply at the open after Russia’s military action in Ukraine began and then rising sharply after U.S. President Joe Biden announced new sanctions.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 100 points, or 0.3 percent, after falling more than 850 points at the session low. The broad-based S&P 500 rebounded to close 1.5% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 3.3% after falling nearly 3.5% at its lowest level of the day.

The quarterly reporting season has largely come to an end, but there are still a few companies that are due to report and can claim attention.

Shares of Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) fell in the premarket after the plant-based meat producer released disappointing fourth-quarter data, while Coinbase shares fell after the cryptocurrency trading platform reported a decline in trading volume and monthly users despite a volatile trading climate.

4. Flow of economic data

The U.S. Federal Reserve will hold its next monetary policy meeting next week, and data released later could provide more clues as to whether and by how much it will raise the short-term rate.

US personal spending and income data for January, a month after the holiday season, will be released at 08:30am ET (13:30 GMT). Analysts forecast personal spending to rise 1.6% from the previous month, beating December’s 0.6%, while personal income is projected to decline 0.3%, down from the previously reported +0.3%.

Durable Goods Orders data for January will also be released at the same time and is expected to rise 0.8% after falling 0.7% in the previous month, while the core PCE price index, a measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve uses in interest rate discussions, is expected to rise to an annualized rate of 5.1% in January.

Many now expect the U.S. central bank to raise the rate by 50 basis points given the elevated level of consumer prices and the strength of the country’s economic recovery, but the outbreak of war in Ukraine may prompt the Fed to take a less stringent stance on a rate hike.

5. Oil prices stabilized around $100 per barrel.

Crude oil prices stabilized on Friday after volatile trading on Thursday after Western powers imposed new sanctions on Russia as punishment for military action in Ukraine.

While U.S. officials said the measures “are not and will not target oil and gas flows,” sanctions against Russian banks and state-owned enterprises are likely to hamper Russia’s ability to conduct business using major currencies.

The price of Brent crude oil rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday, but then began to sell off in the session after U.S. President Joe Biden raised the possibility of releasing U.S. oil from strategic reserves in coordination with other countries.

In addition, price gains on Friday were limited by U.S. crude oil supply data released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration. Published a day later than usual because of a holiday on Monday, they showed a gain of about 4.5 million barrels in the week to Feb. 18, indicating a slowdown in demand from the world’s largest energy consumer.

By 06:15 a.m. ET (11:15 a.m. GMT), WTI crude futures were down 0.4 percent to $92.44 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were down 0.5 percent to $94.90 a barrel.

RBOB gasoline futures rose 0.1% to $2.9130 a gallon.