Putin says military exercises and the detention of Russian vessels constitute an escalation.

Spreads on US CCC-rated corporate bonds over Treasuries exceeded 1,000 bps, up from about 860 bps in early September and the widest since the 2023 regional bank crisis when investors sold high-risk credit. Such risk premia typically indicate elevated odds of default, restructuring or losses. Collin Martin, head of fixed-income research and strategy at Charles Schwab Wealth Management, said the main driver is an economy that is performing adequately but not robustly; CCC issuers are the riskiest and most sensitive to interest-rate moves.

U.S. storage shares rose in premarket trade: Micron Technology (MU.O) up 0.6% after Q4 revenue nearly quadrupled YoY and fiscal Q1 guidance exceeded expectations; SK Hynix (SKHY.O) up 1.5%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) up 1.7% and Western Digital (WDC.O) up 1.2%.