The invasion of Ukraine led to US President Biden’s announcement of new sanctions against Russia. The events led to huge volatility in all markets on Thursday and Friday with global equities diving and oil, gold, and other energy and metals increasing in value. Weyfair stock also had a difficult week after poor results were announced.
By the end of the week, however, the Nasdaq Index had recovered from the market sell-off, it closed down 18.38 (-0.13%) at 14,189.16. At one point on Thursday, the index got close to 13,000 but its recovery also meant the week saw the index had its best day of 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down at 251.70 (-0.73%) at 34,058.75 while the S&P 500 finish at 4,384.65, unchanged on the week.
Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yield virtually recovered from a 12-basis-point loss to 1.97%, its lowest since November 2021.
Amid a larger risk-off trade worldwide, on Thursday morning, investors bought safe-haven gold futures as well as silver and other metals. At one point, crude oil futures rose to over $100 per barrel for the first time since July 2014. However, a remarkable turnaround saw WTI crude oil come close to wiping out the 9.2% gain and gold futures give up a 3.5% gain at the close, falling as much as 1.7%.
On the NYSE, advancers exceeded decliners by a 1.14-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, advancers outnumbered decliners by a 1.53-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 added two new 52-week highs and 64 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite added 19 highs and 974 lows.
Last week, the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims fell somewhat more than expected, signaling that the labor market recovery was gathering steam. For the week ending Feb. 19, initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000. Last week, unadjusted claims fell 24,824 to 214,873, led by a substantial drop in Missouri. Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Florida, and New Jersey all saw big drops, countering an increase in Michigan.
Overall Stock Market
Several big defense sector exchange-traded funds, including the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense (ITA), SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense (XAR), and Invesco Aerospace & Defense (PPA), were up 2% to 4%. Consumer and technology stocks were among the Dow’s winners.
Wayfair Stock (NYSE: W)
After reporting worse-than-expected losses and a significant year-over-year fall in orders for its fiscal fourth quarter, the home furnishings retailer Wayfair’s (NYSE: W) shares were volatile.
Wayfair’s revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $3.3 billion, down $419 million, or 11.4%, year-on-year. The diluted loss per share was $1.92, nearly three times the 70 cents experts expected. Revenue exceeded the FactSet average of $3.3 billion. However, the diluted loss per share was $1.92, roughly three times the 70 cents analysts expected.
Wayfair reported a net loss of $202 million, with a loss of $4 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Weyfair stock has been in a downtrend with all-time-low prices seen
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
A Wall Street Journal report says that Microsoft has announced that it will make it easier to use its security solutions on Google’s cloud. Microsoft had already released a version of its security software that was cloud-compatible. Hence, its security software will now be available across three major cloud providers.
Ben Snider, a Goldman Sachs analyst, also published a research paper on the current round of hedge fund filings. Microsoft is still the most popular long position among hedge funds.
The stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is now trending. In addition, as part of a broader market selloff, the company’s stock price dropped 2.59%. However, the stock price had risen by more than 1% in the morning.
On Thursday, commodity prices soared across the board as investors worried about a supply disruption following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Not only is Russia a major producer and exporter of energy, but also metals and foodstuffs. Markets were already tight before the invasion, so any output reduction would be difficult to absorb.
On the London Metal Exchange, aluminium prices rose more than 3% to a new high of $3,450 a tonne. Nickel is currently selling at a high of approximately $25,000 per tonne, the highest amount in almost a decade.
Platinum increased by more than 2%, while palladium increased by more than 6%.
The jump in oil prices subsided on Thursday, with crude falling from seven-year highs when Russia invaded Ukraine. Fears that the fighting would impair supply from Russia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, drove up oil prices.
However, Brent crude rose only 2.3% to $99.08 per barrel on the day. It’s a far cry from the previous high of $105.79 per barrel. US crude finished the day at $92.81 a barrel, up barely 0.8%. The price of US crude jumped 9.2% to $100.54 per barrel at one point.
Throughout the day, the oil rally receded, peaking during President Joe Biden’s speech outlining Russia’s sanctions. Sanctions against Russian banks, billionaires, and high-tech imports are among the measures. The sanctions, however, would not directly target Russia’s oil and gas industry, nor will they cut Russian banks off from the vital SWIFT payment network, which connects financial institutions all over the world.