Stocks are rising modestly Friday as investors as investors take a cautious stance amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Stocks were edging higher Friday as investors took a cautious stance related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and uncertainty surrounding the future of the global economy and interest rates.
On Wall Street, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 57 points or 0.17%, to 33,213, at last check. S&P 500 futures were up 0.22%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 0.36%.
Commodity prices were mostly lower, with natural gas futures off 2.1% to $4.54. Oil also edged lower after surging past $100 a barrel on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, trading at $93.40 and Brent crude at $99.14.
The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv came under renewed bombing in the early hours of Friday as Russian forces pushed to the edge of the city. President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed not to surrender and the capital’s defenders geared up for urban combat.
“This morning, we are defending our country all alone,” Zelensky said in a television address in Kyiv. “The most powerful nations of the world are just watching from afar.”
President Joe Biden will attend an emergency NATO summit Friday morning from the White House Situation Room to coordinate next steps with Western allies.
Biden said in an address Thursday that NATO would meet to “affirm our solidarity and to map out the next steps we will take to further strengthen all aspects of our NATO alliance.”
Stocks staged a remarkable comeback on Thursday, rebounding to finish higher after posting significant losses early in the trading session, while global oil prices soared and Treasury bond yields tumbled in safe-haven trading, following Russia’s “full-scale” overnight invasion of Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the trading session Thursday up 92 points, or 0.28%, to 33,223, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5% and The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite gained 3.34%.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields rose to 2.005% in early New York trading on Friday, a gain of around 2 basis points from Thursday’s levels.
The moves have slashed bets on an aggressive Federal Reserve rate hike next month, with the odds of a 50 basis point increase falling to just 17.3% according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Gold prices were marked 0.57% lower on the session at $1,892.71 per ounce after touching its highest level since November 2020 on Thursday. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.25% lower at 96.90.
Among individual stocks, shares of Beyond Meat (BYND) – Get Beyond Meat, Inc. Report tumbled more than 10% in premarket trading after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss and shrinking revenue in its fourth quarter.
Zscaler (ZS) – Get Zscaler, Inc. Report shares tumbled 12.3% after the cybersecurity software company’s quarterly earnings guidance came in slightly lower than Wall Street’s forecast.
