Mid-Morning Market Update: US Markets Mostly Higher As Investors Monitor Russia-Ukraine Crisis

U.S. stocks opened mostly higher this morning after recording gains in the previous session. Russian forces have advanced to the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Saboteurs are already in the city, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 0.81% to 33,491.35 while the NASDAQ rose 0.07% to 13,482.53. The S&P also rose, gaining, 0.53% to 4,311.43.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Nordic American Tankers Limited NAT, up 7% and U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. SLCA up 5%.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and issued guidance for FY22.

Foot Locker posted quarterly earnings of $1.67 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.44 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $2.34 billion, versus expectations of $2.33 billion.

Foot Locker said it sees FY22 sales down 4%-6% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $4.25-$4.60.

Equities Trading UP

KAR Auction Services, Inc. KAR shares shot up 44% to $19.71 after the company agreed to sell its ADESA U.S. physical auction business to Carvana for $2.2 billion. Guggenheim upgraded KAR Auction Services from Sell to Neutral.

Shares of Farfetch Limited FTCH got a boost, shooting 30% to $19.53 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS results.

CarGurus, Inc. CARG shares were also up, gaining 32% to $42.51 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

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Equities Trading DOWN

Baudax Bio, Inc. BXRX shares tumbled 55% to $1.95 after the company announced pricing of a $10 million public offering.

Shares of Everbridge, Inc. EVBG were down 38% to $28.61 after the company reported Q4 earnings results. The company also issued Q1 adjusted EPS and sales and FY22 sales guidance below estimates.

Foot Locker, Inc. FL was down, falling 34% to $27.33 after the company reported it sees FY22 sales down 4-6% year over year and FY22 comparable sales growth down 8-10% year over year.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $92.81, while gold traded down 1.7% to $1,893.30.

Silver traded down 2.5% Friday to $24.06 while copper rose 0.7% to $4.4940.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 2.8%, London’s FTSE 100 jumped 3.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 3.3%. The German DAX gained 2.7%, French CAC 40 surged 2.8% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 3.3%.

The annual inflation rate in France accelerated to 3.6% in February from 2.9 % in December, while quarterly economic growth was confirmed at 0.7% on quarter during the three months to December. The German economy shrank by 0.3% on quarter during the final three months of 2021, while import prices surged 26.9% year-over-year in January.

UK’s car production dropped 20.1% year-over-year to 68,790 units in January, while GfK consumer confidence indicator fell to its weakest level in 13 months at -26 in February.

Economics

 

US durable goods orders rose 1.6% month-over-month in January.

Personal spending in the US rose 2.1% from a month ago in January, while personal income came in unchanged in January. The personal consumption expenditure price index climbed 6.1% year-over-year in January.

The pending home sales index fell 5.7% for January.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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Check out the full economic calendar here

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 80,446,580 cases with around 969,600 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 42,894,340 cases and 513,250 deaths, while Brazil reported over 28,580,990 COVID-19 cases with 647,480 deaths. In total, there were at least 432,352,620 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,949,670 deaths.