Head of personal financial management at Goldman Sachs Joe Duran on what will happen to the stock market if Russia invades Ukraine.
U.S. equity futures traded higher on Friday, trimming losses from Thursday’s plunge on escalating worries over the possibility Russia may invade Ukraine.
The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.6% when the opening bell rings.
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Thursday’s market drop saw the S&P 500 have its biggest drop in two weeks as the major indexes saw weekly gains disappear.
The wave of selling came as President Biden warned that Russia, which is believed to have built up some 150,000 military forces near Ukraine’s borders, could invade within days. Dignitaries raced for solutions but suspicions between East and West only seemed to grow, as NATO allies rejected Russian assertions it was pulling back troops from exercises that had fueled fears of an attack.
The price of gold, traditionally a safe haven during geopolitical uncertainty, rose 1.6%.
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Deere & Company will help wrap up a busy week of earnings. Also watch for numbers from Outback Steakhouse parent Bloomin’ Brands and sports betting company DraftKings.
On the economic agenda, keep an eye out for existing home sales for the month of January. The National Association of Realtors is expected to say that sales of previously owned homes slipped 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units. That would follow a steeper-than-expected decline of 4.6% in December due to high prices and low inventory.
Also, the Conference Board’s Leading Economic index will be released for January. Watch for a 0.2% increase from the prior month.
In European trading, London’s FTSE was up 0.1%, Germany’s DAX added 0.1% and France’s CAC gained 0.1%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up 2% and China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.6%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 34312.03 | -622.24 | -1.78% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4380.26 | -94.75 | -2.12% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 13716.719187 | -407.38 | -2.88% |
About 85% of the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 losing 2.1% closed lower on Thursday. It fell 94.75 points to 4,380.26 and is now 8.7% below the all-time high it set on Jan. 3.
The Dow slid 622.24 points to 34,312.03, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 407.38 points to 13,716.72.
The technology sector was the biggest drag on the index, along with communication stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending. Microsoft fell 2.9%, Facebook parent Meta slid 4.1% and Nike fell 2.5%.
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But some companies fared well thanks to strong earnings. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, rose 4% after reporting strong fourth-quarter financial results. Cisco Systems, which makes routers, gained 2.8% after raising its profit forecast for the year.
Bond yields fell and dragged banks lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.97% from 2.04% late Wednesday.
The price of gold, traditionally a safe haven during geopolitical uncertainty, rose 1.6%.
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Bitcoin traded around $40,000, falling more than 7% on Thursday.
So far, consumers haven’t pulled back on spending due to higher prices. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales surged 3.8% in January as the threat of the omicron variant of COVID-19 faded.
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In other trading Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 81 cents to $90.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 2% on Thursday, while the price of natural gas fell 4.9%.
Brent crude, the international pricing standard, lost 74 cents to $92.23 per barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
