1. East Australia floods update
Almost 400,000 people in NSW remain under evacuation warnings or orders on Friday morning as rain starts to dissipate but rivers in some areas remain at major flood levels. Almost 94,000 people are covered by 69 evacuation orders with a further 287,000 residing in areas where evacuation warnings are in place, an NSW SES spokesperson said. In Queensland, totals of between 20mm and 80mm are expected as a trough lingers over the southeast, with high-intensity rainfall and totals of 150mm or greater expected in isolated areas. The bureau has predicted flash flooding and minor to major flooding across areas in the southeast, stretching from Brisbane’s north to Bundaberg.

2. Russia-Ukraine war latest
The US has implemented further sanctions on Russia, targeting wealthy oligarchs as well as Putin’s press secretary. Putin has dismissed claims that its invasion has been met with tough resistance from Ukraine, assuring that his military operation “is going according to plan”. Bloomberg reports that: “Putin remained undeterred, telling France’s Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that he plans to fulfill the goals of his invasion, including removing the government in Kyiv. Russian troops have advanced on the southeast city of Mariupol, although Ukraine still has control there, a senior U.S. defense official said.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again appealed to Putin to meet with him. “I have to talk to Putin, the world has to talk to Putin, because there is no other ways to stop this war,” he said. More than a million refugees are fleeing to neighbouring countries, according to the United Nations, adding to the humanitarian crisis that is also occurring inside Ukraine. 

3. Are tech stocks finally in the buy zone?
There’s no denying tech stocks have had a rough start to 2022, but is the bear market soon to let up? Richard Bernstein Advisors’ Dan Suzuki issued a report comparing the current tech crash to that of the dot com bubble in the early 2000s. After the dot com crash, “the mother of all dead cat bounces resulted in tech stocks rebounding more than 30% and recovering nearly two-thirds of their initial losses,” Suzuki said in the report. That bounce enticed investors to get back into tech — and the sector slid 82% over the next two years. With that in mind, Suzuki says to consider key metrics to assess whether the bubble has deflated including fewer tech-focused investment products like ETFs, the cancellation of tech- and innovation-focused TV and news columns, and people no longer quitting jobs to join early-stage start-ups or trade crypto.

4. Russian sanctions to see economy shrink by 35% in second quarter
According to analysts at JPMorgan, the Russian economy is poised to shrink by 35% in the second quarter of 2022, and 7% for the full year. “Sanctions and decisions of foreign businesses to pause or halt Russia operations have led to a stall in international trade, reduced output, and supply-chain disruptions … The shock implies a lower potential output, which will be accompanied with a spike in prices — A credit crunch will add to pain, although there are signs that the run on banks is easing,” JPMorgan strategist Anatoliy Shal wrote.

5. ASX to slip, Wall St unsteady
ASX futures were down 58 points or 0.8 per cent to 7068 near 6.45am AEDT, with the AUD up 0.3% to US73¢. On Wall St: Dow -0.02% S&P 500 +0.1% Nasdaq -1.3%. 2-year yield: US -0.04% (1.54%) Australia +0.08% (1.07%). 10-year yield: US -- (1.85%) Australia +0.09% (2.16%).