Sanders Morris Harris chairman George Ball and Revere Securities CSO Scott Fullman discuss how the Ukraine situation is impacting markets on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
U.S. equity futures gained Wednesday morning as traders hoped for a diplomatic solution instead of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.3% when trading begins on Wall Street.
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Analysts warned the tensions were far from resolved concerning Ukraine and the situation remains volatile.
Stocks rebounded in the U.S. on Tuesday as Russia announced that some units participating in military exercises around Ukraine would begin returning to their bases. Later in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready for talks with the United States and NATO on military transparency and other security issues.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 34988.84 | +422.67 | +1.22% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4471.07 | +69.40 | +1.58% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 14139.757317 | +348.84 | +2.53% |
The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to 4,471.07. The gain snapped a three-day losing streak and nearly made up for all of its losses last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% to 34,988.84 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 2.5% to 14,139.76.
Wednesday morning will be full of economic data for traders to dissect.
The Commerce Department reports retail sales for January. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv anticipate consumer spending to jump 2.0% month-over-month, after unexpectedly falling 1.9% in December. Excluding the automotive component, spending is seen rising 0.8% in January, a nice rebound from December’s 2.3% drop.
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Import and export prices for January will also be reported. Prices of imported goods likely popped 1.3% month-over-month, after slipping 0.2% in December. Watch for export prices to also rise 1.3%.
The Federal Reserve will release industrial production data for January. Factory output is expected to increase 0.4% for the month after slipping unexpectedly in December.
The National Association of Homebuilders is out with its sentiment index for February.
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Finally, business inventories are expected to rise 2.1% in December.
In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its recent meeting.
Among the morning’s key earnings reports: Kraft Heinz, Analog Devices and Hilton Worldwide. The afternoon focus will be on
Dow member Cisco Systems, insurer AIG, chip maker Nvidia and semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials.
In Europe, London’s FTSE added 0.2%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.7% and France’s CAC also gained 0.7%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.5% and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%.
Bitcoin traded around $44,000.
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In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude gained $1.04 to $93.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It slumped 3.6% Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, added $1.10 to $94.38 a barrel.
Oil prices have been volatile amid tensions over Russia potentially invading neighboring Ukraine. Russia is a major energy producer and military action that disrupts supplies could jolt markets and global industries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
