U.S. stock futures were mostly flat Monday night ahead of the first trading day of March amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Futures Lie Flat: Dow Futures were up 0.03% at 33,850 while S&P and Nasdaq futures fell 0.04% and 0.23% to 4,366.25 and 14,194.73.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.49% lower at 33,892.60. The S&P 500  ended the day 0.24% in the red at 4,373.94. The Nasdaq closed 0.41% higher at 13,751.40.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) closed Monday 0.3% lower at $436.63.

Russia and Ukraine held a first round of talks Monday on the Ukrainian-Belarussian border; no breakthrough was reached. The next round of talks has been agreed upon in the coming days, according to a report from Al Jazeera.

Gold Underperforms: Gold futures rose at press time while spot gold was seen lower. April 22 Gold COMEX futures traded 0.4% higher at $1,907,90. Spot gold fell 0.14% lower to $1,906.01. 

Gold is underperforming other commodities, according to OANDA Senior Analyst Edward Moya. 

“Gold investors looking for it to rally back towards $2000 will need to be patient.  Gold could have one major shock if Russia is forced to offload some of its gold holdings. Gold should find strong support around the $1840-$1850 area if bullish bets are pulled off the table,” said the analyst, in a note seen by Benzinga.

Oil Spikes: Oil futures were seen higher at press time. April 22 WTI Crude and ICE Brent Crude futures rose 0.9% to $96.58 and $98.86, respectively.

Prices rose as disruptions to the oil sector appeared to be inevitable, according to a report from CNBC.

“Russia is casting a long, dark, unpredictable, and very complicated shadow. The biggest potential negative from this for the US economy is a surge in oil prices,” said Evercore ISI, an investment banking firm, reported CNBC.

Evercore ISI said disruptions to oil and gas shipments are looking increasingly inevitable.

“The various banking sanctions make it highly difficult for Russian petroleum sales to occur now,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, an investment advisory company, as per CNBC.

Cryptos Breakaway: Major coins spiked at press time with the global cryptocurrency market cap increasing 10.9% to $1.9 trillion. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was seen 14.5% higher at $43,314.48 at press time. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) spiked 12% to $2,924.96, while Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) rose 8% to $0.13.

Cryptocurrency assets broke away from stock futures as delivery of harsher sanctions on Russian banks bolstered argument for blockchain products competing against SWIFT network, as per OANDA’s Moya.

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