AUD/USD bears are lurking as risk appetite sours again on second night of Russian military invasion of Ukraine

• AUD/USD bracing for impact as Ukraine continues to be under attack by Russia.
• Risk appetite is waning again in Asia following an upbeat recovery on Wall Street.

AUD/USD is under pressure following a subdued London before a storm of volatility during the New York open that saw a sell-off to test below 0.71 the figure before risk appetite surged and pulled the Aussie back to test as high as 0.7178. The pair has been changing hands since between there and the Asia session low of 0.7141 so far. 

At the time of writing, the currency is flat on the session trading at 0.7160 as traders weigh prospects of further attacks from Russia on Ukraine. Markets are bracing for one of the biggest attacks yet on Kyiv, as reported by CNN: 

Russia expected to initiate large bombardment on Kyiv at 0100GMT - CNN citing intelligence

''Ukrainian forces have battled Russian invaders on three sides on Thursday after Moscow unleashed the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes,'' Reuters reports. 

With such escalation of the attacks on the nation and no sign of a cease-fire, investors who might have rediscovered much of their appetite for riskier bets could start to back off again which would be expected to weigh on global equities and high beta currencies, such as AUD.

Despite the bounce on Wall Street, MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe closed down 0.46% after earlier falling more than 3% to touch its lowest level since March 2021.

However, the Nikkei is higher by 1.5% and the XJO is in the green, but only just.