Wall: Negative ‘ignition’ with 300 points drop for Dow, at -1.5% Nasdaq

LAST UPDATE 19:45

The negative signs prevail on the Wall on Friday after the small fluctuations and the exchanges of signals presented in the initial trading the main indicators at the end of a trading week characterized by intense volatility, due to the geopolitical tension in Ukraine.

Characteristically, after the signs of de-escalation that temporarily “relieved” the international markets on Wednesday, the new tensions yesterday led the Dow Jones to its worst day since the end of last November with losses of more than 500 points, and the other two indices to follow closely.

Today, investors continue to be cautious in anticipation of new developments.

Thus, the industrial index Dow Jones loses 0.85% or about 300 points and moves to 34,030, the technological Nasdaq falls by 1.5% and stands at 13,510 points, while the expanded S&P 500 falls by 1% to 4,340 points.

In week All three indices are on a losing streak: the Dow is down 1.8%, the S&P 500 is slipping 1.5% and the Nasdaq is down 1.6%.

At individual movements of sharesfalling oil prices have put pressure on companies in the field, with Devon Energy, APA and Schlumberger all falling from 1.2% to 2%.

Dow Jones’s “weight” is Intel, which sank 5.8% after Bank of America repeated the “underperform” rating for the title of technology giant.

Roku’s share is falling by -25% after the streaming services company lost its quarterly earnings estimates and was forced to downgrade its guidance.

The Ukrainian crisis continues to be the focus of investors’ attention, with accusations of ceasefire violations continuing today.

The separatist authorities of the Donetsk “democracy” announced on Friday afternoon that A car exploded near a government building in the city of the same name. Authorities in the area have confirmed reports of an explosion in central Donetsk.

At the same time, Moscow continues to claim that the military units it had deployed on the border with Ukraine are gradually withdrawing, but for his part, the US Ambassador to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter, said at a meeting of the Organization that they are in the region. up to 190,000 Russian soldiers.

In a speech to the UN Security Council on Thursday, US Secretary of State Blinken again called on Russia to “abandon the path of war”. “Our information clearly shows that ‘Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, including ground forces and aircraft, are preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine in the coming days,'” Blinken said.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken next week for new talks on Ukraine, keeping alive hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Meanwhile, investors continue to look for signs of how the Fed will move in its forthcoming interest rate hike, with bank official James Boulard reiterating his call for an aggressive stance yesterday before inflation slipped out of control.

As Oanda analyst Edward Moya puts it, “Wall Street feels very nervous as it looks to the left and sees growing geopolitical risks with the situation in Ukraine, while then it looks to the right and sees the possibility of an aggressive tightening by the Fed.”