By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
Amid the ongoing military strife between Russia and Ukraine, US stock futures inched higher as the S&P 500 closed in correction territory.
US stock market futures were marginally up in pre-market trading on Wednesday, February 23rd, after the S&P 500 closed. This positive development came amid the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the Kremlin recently annexed parts of eastern Ukraine.
Senior global macro strategist at Truist, Eylem Senyuz, offered his take on the ongoing military strife in the Eastern European region. In a note addressed to clients, Senyuz wrote:
“While uncertainties remain, our work shows that historically military/crisis events tend to inject volatility into markets and often cause a short-term dip, but stocks tend to eventually rebound unless the event pushes the economy into recession.”
In addition, Senyuz added that “investor sentiment also suggests the bar for positive surprises is low.”
Breakdown of S&P 500 Performance Alongside Stock Futures & Other Benchmark Indexes
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contracts moved forward by 130 points in pre-market trading, while the S&P gained by 0.48%. In addition, the NASDAQ 100 futures also climbed by 0.66%.
However, the DJIA dropped 483 points during the regular trading session, or 1.42%, which represents its fourth consecutive negative session. So underwhelming was the Dow’s performance that the benchmark index was down by over 700 points at some point during the session. Furthermore, the S&P 500 reclined by 1.01%, but is still firmly in correction territory. Interestingly, the 500 company benchmark index is now 10.25% below its all-time high close from January 3rd. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.23% in what turned out to be its fourth consecutive negative session.
As of last Friday, 78% of the companies listed on the S&P 500 to report quarterly results have exceeded consensus earnings estimates. In addition, 78% have also surpassed analysts’ revenue expectations, according to American financial data and software companyFactSet.
Following Russian president Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk, US President Joe Biden announced added sanctions against Russia. The prescribed measures target the Russian financial system and the nation’s sovereign debt.
Oil Thrives, Stocks Suffer
However, there are mixed results in the stocks and commodities marketplace. Oil prices and commodities are generally riding high at the moment owing to the development in Eastern Europe.
For instance, the US oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude futures, hit $96, representing a session high not seen since August 2014. In addition, international benchmark Brent Crude was selling for a relatively high price of $99.50 per barrel. Meanwhile, there was a downside on Tuesday in all 11 S&P 500 sectors. This also led to the downside by consumer discretionary stocks dipping by 3%. Furthermore, despite a surge in oil prices, energy stocks went lower.
Lastly, as the tension between Russia and Ukraine heats up, yields are retreating. For instance, the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 2% as investors seek safe-haven assets.