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Friday, July 18, 2014

WAR FEARS TRIGGER GLOBAL MARKETS PANDEMONIUM: MH17 was 'not an accident', it was 'blown out of the sky' - U.S.

WAR FEARS TRIGGER GLOBAL MARKETS PANDEMONIUM: MH17 was 'not an accident', it was 'blown out of the sky' - U.S.
A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 people was hit by a surface-to-air missile, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Officials were divided over the origin of the missile that hit the plane, which crashed over eastern Ukraine on Thursday.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the plane was shot down, adding that it was "not an accident" and was "blown out of the sky."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Ukraine bore responsibility for the downing of a passenger plane in the country's east, saying it would not have happened if Kiev had not resumed a military campaign against separatists.
Both the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines said Ukrainian aviation authorities told the company they had lost contact with Flight MH17, a Boeing 777 from Amsterdam carrying 295 people, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Tamak waypoint, which is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
There were unconfirmed reports that the crashed plane's flight recorder (the so-called black box) had been located.
'Terrible tragedy'
U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. is trying to determine if U.S. citizens were on board the crashed plane following reports that U.S. citizens were on board the plane. Calling the downed plane a "terrible tragedy," Obama said the U.S. will offer any help it can to determine what happened and why.
Pro-Russian separatists said they would have up to a three-day ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine to allow for recovery work at the site of the downed airliner, according to a RIA news agency.
UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon urged a "full and transparent international investigation" into the crash.
As huge plumes of black smoke rose up near a village in eastern Ukraine, the fate of the passengers aboard the plane wasn't immediately known. An AP journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site while Reuters reported that all 295 people aboard had died.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country's armed forces did not take action against any airborne targets. "We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the armed forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets," he said. "We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible."
The country's state security chief accused two Russian military intelligence officers of involvement in the Malaysian airline crash, basing his allegation on phone interception. He added the officers must be punished for this "crime."
But Russian separatists blamed the downing of the plane on the Ukrainian government, according to Russian media.
An armed pro-Russian separatist stands at a site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014.
"Apparently, it's a passenger airliner indeed, truly shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force,'' separatist leader Alexander Borodai told Russia's state-run Rossiya 24 TV broadcaster.
Another separatist, Andrei Purgin, told The Associated Press that he was certain that Ukrainian troops had shot the plane down but gave no explanation or proof.
Purgin said he did not know whether rebel forces owned Buk missile launchers, but said even if they did, there had no fighters capable of operating it.
Putin, Obama discuss situation
In a phone conversion, Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Barack Obama that a Malaysian jetliner crashed on Ukrainian territory, the Kremlin said. Obama asked his advisers to keep him updated, but the White House said it couldn't confirm the shootdown reports. The two leaders held a already planned call on the situation in Ukraine following expanded sanctions on Russia during which information became available from air traffic controllers about the plane.
A State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. embassy in Kiev was in touch with Ukrainian authorities, but the State Department did not have any further details on the plane, victims or causes. Secretary of State John Kerry had not yet spoken to other foreign leaders, she added.
Reuters reported that Ukraine's prime minister identified the shot-down plane as a missing Malaysian Airlines flight and has ordered an investigation. A YouTube video purported to show footage from moments after the plane went down.
Malaysia in shock
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he was shocked by the reports and was also planning an investigation.
On his Facebook page, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, Anton Gerashchenko, claimed that terrorists struck down the plane under Putin's orders.
Putin expressed his condolences to the Malaysian Prime Minister following the passenger plane crash.
In a CNBC interview, retired U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey said, "This was a major strike, a deliberate strike to get an aircraft at that altitude."
Retired Col. Ken Allard told CNBC, "To bring down an airliner from 33,000 feet you need a good air defense weapon, not just a missile itself and also the radar. That says Russian, and that says to me either a separatist element or the Russians themselves."
Boeing said it is aware of media reports and is gathering more information on the situation.
Full passenger list not out yet
In a live press conference, Malaysian Airlines vice president of its Europe division said the plane's passengers included the following: 154 Dutch, 27 Australian, 23 Malaysia, 11 Indonesia, 6 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Philippines and 1 Canadian. The remainder were not yet identified.
Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported that at least 154 Dutch people were abroad MH17.
Global stocks sell-off on war fears
Stocks sold off as investors moved into the safety of bonds and gold while awaiting more details on how a Malaysian Airline jet crashed in Ukraine. Stocks had been languishing ahead of the first batch of headlines about the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that crossed in the 11 a.m. hour. The Dow temporarily dipped more than 90 points as news wires confirmed an Interfax report that said the plane was shot down.
Stocks dropped further to close sharply lower following confirmation that Israeli had launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
Gold, under selling pressure this week, settled 1.3 percent higher at $1,316 per troy ounce, and wheat, a major crop of Ukraine, jumped more than 2 percent on the CME. The yen gained further ground against other currencies, as the dollar slid with Treasury yields. The 10-year note yield fell to 2.46 percent from 2.50 earlier.
Wells Fargo Advisors strategist Scott Wren said the reaction in stocks was natural, and he has been saying the biggest risk to stocks this summer is event risk, not the U.S. economy.
"The markets need clarity on just what happened," said Wren in a quick email. "Uncertainly over an event (cause, etc) usually results in markets trading down……traders taking a little money off the table and waiting to see what happened."
White House on alert
The White House said it was aware of reports and monitoring the situation in the Ukraine. Regarding an possible impact on U.S. flight operations, a TSA official said, "We simply don't know enough information to make any kind of decision. It just happened."
The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.
On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, adding to what Kiev says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Security Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko said the pilot of the Sukhoi-25 jet hit by the air-to-air missile was forced to bail after his jet was shot down.
Pro-Russia rebels, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for strikes Wednesday on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile, but added the pilot was unscathed and managed to land his plane safely. —CNBC.com with wires

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