At 15:00 GMT, the indices, which had all opened sharply in the red, ranged between positive and negative territory. The Dow Jones Index was down 0.23%, the Nasdaq was up 0.12% and the S&P 500 was down 0.20%
The New York Stock Exchange was jittery on Tuesday due to heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine and the prospect of tough sanctions once morest Moscow.
At 15:00 GMT, the indices, which had all opened sharply in the red, ranged between positive and negative territory. The Dow Jones index was down 0.23%, the Nasdaq was up 0.12% and the S&P 500 was down 0.20%.
Paralyzed by the uncertainty linked to the crisis in Ukraine, Wall Street had ended in decline on Friday before a long three-day weekend, linked to the President’s Day holiday.
The Dow Jones was down 0.68% at 34,079.18 points, the technology-majority Nasdaq was down 1.23% at 13,548.06 points, and the S&P 500 was up 0.72% at 4,348.87 points.
Over the week, the Dow Jones had fallen by 1.90%, the Nasdaq by 1.76% and the S&P 500 by 1.58%.
Investors are worried regarding the potential impact on business of heavy sanctions on Russia following Moscow recognized pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to enter these separatist territories, prompting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council overnight.
Oil prices rose sharply, by 2.50% for Brent from the North Sea to 97.73 dollars and by 3.31% for the contract on a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to 94.08 dollars. Earlier in London, black gold, at its highest in seven years, came close to the symbolic bar of 100 dollars a barrel.
“Tensions between Russia and Ukraine pose a low risk to US corporate earnings,” JP Morgan analysts said in a note on Tuesday.
“But it’s the energy price shock, amid the Central Bank’s (Fed) monetary policy shift geared towards fighting inflation, that might further weigh on investor sentiment and the outlook. growth,” they warned.
“The US, UK and EU have already announced initial sanctions once morest Russia, and Germany halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare noted at the time. that world leaders call on Russia to seek a diplomatic solution.
“It all looks very messy, but it may not be as bad as you might think,” hoped the analyst, assuring “that market participants are still not convinced that the worst-case scenario will materialize. “.
Yields on 10-year US debt were stabilizing around 1.93%.
Schwab analysts also pointed out that investors remained concerned regarding the upcoming tightening of monetary policy, three weeks before the next decisive meeting of the Fed which will begin to raise interest rates.
The Case-Shiller index of U.S. house prices in the 20 largest cities, released on Tuesday, rose 18.6% year on year in December, more than expected, a new element coming to feed inflation, noted Schwab analysts.
On the stock market, the shares of energy groups were highly sought following, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Schumberger taking more than 1%.
