The New York Stock Exchange (AFP / ANGELA WEISS)
Wall Street ended another volatile session down on the sixth day of the Russian invasion, with eyes on developments in Ukraine that are sending oil prices soaring and bond yields plummeting.
According to final results at the close, the Dow Jones index lost 1.76% to 33,294.95 points. The technology-dominated Nasdaq dropped 1.59% to 13,532.46 points. The S&P 500 fell 1.55% to 4,306.26 points.
“US stocks fell as investors shun long-term risk as the Russia-Ukraine crisis intensifies and soaring oil prices threaten economic growth prospects,” said Edward Moya, analyst for Oanda.
The price of crude, the rise of which can accelerate inflation already at its highest in 40 years in the United States, soared by 7.14% for the barrel of Brent which settled at a hair’s breadth of 105 dollars. . The price of a Texas barrel (WTI) jumped 8.03%.
Reflecting a rush of investors to safe values such as bonds, yields on 10-year Treasury bills fell to 1.71%, the lowest in a month and a half.
The American currency has, moreover, played its role of safe haven, causing the euro to lose almost 1% in session, falling to 1.1122 dollars for one euro.
“The New York Stock Exchange pressed the sell button for all sectors except energy,” said Edward Moya when ten of the eleven sectors of the S&P 500 were in the red.
“Brokers are trying to limit their exposure to anything Russia-related and some are worried regarding a prolonged economic downturn,” he added.
On Tuesday the fighting continued and shelling targeted Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city. The Russian army said it was going to hit Ukrainian security service infrastructure in Kiev and called on civilians living nearby to flee.
More than 677,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled the invasion of their country in neighboring countries, according to the UN.
For National Security’s Art Hogan, investors “are increasingly nervous as the Russian military returns, dampening hopes of a Russian withdrawal or de-escalation in response to Ukrainian resistance and Western sanctions.” .
“We’ll have to buckle up and wait to see how it goes,” added the analyst.
The indices therefore started the third month of the year in the red following the first two months were already negative.
The Dow Jones has lost more than 8% since the start of the year, and the Nasdaq 13%.
Listed, the Target title was warmly welcomed (+9.84% to 219.43 dollars) following the chain of stores revealed better than expected results in the fourth quarter and posted optimistic growth prospects, with the opening of new stores beyond 2022.
The intermediary platform for drug prescriptions, GoodRx, saw its shares plunge 38.91%, following results were worse than expected.
Oil group Chevron climbed 3.97% to $149.72 following doubling its annual share buyback plan.
Like other big names in tech, Apple ended down 1.16% at $163.20. The title recovered slightly in electronic trading following the group announced that it was suspending the sale of its products in Russia.
The halt since Monday of the listing of a dozen securities of Russian companies on the Nasdaq and the NYSE continues, including that of the Russian tech giant Yandex or the electronic payments group Qiwi.
This halt in trading is linked to the obligation for these companies to inform their shareholders and the markets on how the situation in Russia might have a significant impact on their activity.
Nasdaq