U.S. equity futures and global stock indexes fell as concerns mounted about Russia’s intensifying military campaign in Ukraine.
News of damage to a major Ukrainian nuclear-power plant rattled already fragile sentiment. Market participants are trying to assess how much the conflict, and tough Western sanctions on Russia, will damage global economic growth and further stoke inflation by disrupting commodity supplies.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 fell between 0.7% and 0.8%, pointing to declines for U.S. indexes in Friday’s session. In Europe, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2.4%.
VIX and VIXmain Jumped over 10% and 5% separately.
Gold-main 2204 rose 0.6% and once reached $1953.2.
Russia’s central bank will keep the Moscow stock market largely closed for a fifth straight day, shielding local shares from a potential selloff. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading in three Russia-linked exchange-traded funds, according to a notice sent early Friday, following a similar move with NYSE-listed Russian stocks earlier this week.
The selloff in the Russian ruble stabilized, with the currency down 0.1% against the greenback, according to FactSet, trading at 110.14 per U.S. dollar.
Ukrainian officials said Russian shelling caused afire at a nuclear power plant, intensifying fears about Moscow’s tactics and concerns about a nuclear disaster. However, officials said the fire didn’t affect essential equipment, lessening worries about reactor damage. As of early Friday, the management building at the plant was under the control of Russian forces.
Front-month futures prices for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, rose 0.1% to $110.61 a barrel. The U.S. equivalent, West Texas Intermediate crude, added 1.3% to $109.05 a barrel. In the previous session, WTI briefly topped $116 for the first time since 2008.
In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note declined to 1.778%, down from 1.843% Thursday. Bond yields decline as prices rise.
Stocks in New York have been relatively resilient amid the conflict. All three major U.S. indexes are up 2% or more since Russia invaded Ukraine last week. Yet trading has grown choppier in recent days. All three indexes are on pace for weekly declines of between 0.5% and 1.1%.
Investors were cheered this week when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he would propose a quarter-percentage point interest-rate increase at the central bank’s coming meeting, alleviating concerns about a steeper hike. However, Mr. Powell also warned Thursday that the conflict in Ukraine would likely push up inflation.
The worsening situation in Ukraine is driving investors to trim risk exposure ahead of the weekend, said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Securities International in Hong Kong.
Mr. Wen said investors were “worried about inflation and worried about the global economy.” He added: “If oil prices go up significantly, just like the 1970s, the global economy could go into recession, which will hurt corporate profits. Then the impact will be long-lasting.”
Asian stocks dropped, in part reflectingThursday’s action on Wall Street, where technology stocks sold off more than the broader market and U.S.-listed Chinese companies stumbled.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 2.2% lower Friday. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 2.5%, registering its lowest close since March 2020. Tech-related stocks were among the heaviest hit, with Japan’sSoftBank Groupfalling 4.8%, while in Hong Kong, Tencent Holdings fell 3.7% and food-delivery giantMeituanretreated 5.4%.
In mainland China, the CSI 300 index that tracks large shares listed in either Shenzhen or Shanghai fell 1.2%, for its lowest close since July 2020.
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