A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Tumble; Crude Oil Jumps Over 7%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade amid escalating Russia-Ukraine concerns. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Ciena Corporation CIEN, Vermilion Energy Inc. VET and Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. IEA.

The Investor Movement Index for February is scheduled for release at 12:30 p.m. ET, while data on consumer credit for January will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 468 points to 33,115.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures slipped 64 points to 4,263.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index dropped 224.25 points to 13,615.50.

The Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the United States and its allies are considering a ban on Russian oil and natural gas imports. Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 7.9% to trade at $127.50 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 7.5% to trade at $124.32 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs slipped by 3 to 519 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 80,917,520 with around 984,020 deaths. India reported a total of at least 42,967,310 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 29,049,010 cases.

Check out this: Insiders Sell Around $92M Of 4 Stocks

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 3.6%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 5% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 2.5%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 4.3%, while German DAX dropped 4.5%. Retail sales in Germany rose 2% from a month ago in January versus a 5.5% decline in December, while new orders for manufactured goods rose 1.8% in January. The Halifax house price index in the UK jumped 10.8% year-over-year in February

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.94%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 3.87% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.17%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1%, while India’s BSE SENSEX fell 3.3%. Foreign exchange reserves in China fell for a second month to $3.214 trillion in February versus $3.22 trillion in January. Imports to China climbed by 15.5% year-over-year to $428.75 billion in January-February 2022, while exports climbed 16.3% to $544.7 billion.

Broker Recommendation

JP Morgan downgraded Philip Morris International Inc. PM from Overweight to Neutral and lowers the price target from $130 to $110.

Philip Morris shares fell 2.8% to $97.06 in pre-market trading.

Check out this: Executives Buy Over $70M Of 4 Stocks

Breaking News

• TikTok, the popular video app owned by China’s ByteDance, said it was suspending live streaming and the addition of new content to its video service in Russia.
• Silgan Holdings Inc. SLGN reported a $300 million common stock buyback program.
• Netflix NFLX has become the latest U.S. entertainment company to halt its operations in Russia to protest the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
• bluebird bio, Inc. BLUE reported a Q4 loss of $2.14 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $3.01 per share. Its total revenue from continuing operations came in at $1.6 million.

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