Stocks were trading lower on Tuesday and oil surged back above $100 a barrel as investors continue to take a risk-off stance following Russia’s attack against Ukraine and as global sanctions have effectively frozen Russian banks’ ability to function.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 107 points or 0.32%, to 33,785 at last check. The S&P 500 was off 0.14% while the Nasdaq 100 traded down 0.12%
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched last week by President Vladimir Putin with the aim of overthrowing the country’s elected government and ending its alignment with the West, has made slower progress than most military analysts had expected. Russian forces have struggled with fierce Ukrainian resistance and logistical problems.
According to The Street, Heavy fighting continued throughout Ukraine on Tuesday, with Russian forces making advances in the south of the country and trying to push into the capital, Kyiv.
Russian forces struck the central square of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Tuesday, as Moscow switched to a new strategy of pummeling civilian areas in an attempt to demoralize Ukrainian resistance.
Investors have swiftly moved away from stocks amid concern the conflict will both escalate and become protracted, in turn affecting the global economy still recovering from the pandemic.
Stocks slumped on Monday while oil prices tested fresh 2014 highs amid a broader rally in commodities prices as western world leaders moved to isolate Moscow from the global financial system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 166 points, 0.49%, to 33,892, while the S&P 500, which is down 8% for the year, lost 0.24% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended up 0.41%.
Russia’s central bank was effectively blocked from accessing hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars stocked away to help defend its currency, with the ruble left to fall another 30% to an all-time low against the greenback as a result.
Some of the early stock losses were offset by strong earnings from Target (TGT) – Get Target Corporation Report, as the big box retailer posted profit of $3.19 a share, ahead of Wall Street estimates. The shares jumped nearly 13%.
HP (HPQ) – Get HP Inc. Report, meantime, reported better-than-expected fiscal-first-quarter results.
For the quarter ended Jan. 31 earnings per share rose 19% to 99 cents from 83 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted profit in the latest period was $1.10 a share. Revenue rose 8.8% to $17.03 billion.
A survey of analysts by FactSet produced consensus estimates of profit of 98 cents a share, or an adjusted $1.02, on revenue of $16.52 billion. Shares were up 1.6%.
The Wall Street Journal reported that HP said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would cut 2 cents to 3 cents a share from the current quarter’s profit.
The company estimated fiscal-second-quarter profit at 95 cents to $1.01 a share, or an adjusted $1.02 to $1.08 a share. FactSet called 99 cents a share, or an adjusted $1.03.
