U.S. stocks wobbled Friday and oil prices advanced, extending a volatile stretch for markets as investors assessed developments from the war in Ukraine.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49 points, or 0.2%, in early afternoon trading. The S&P 500 was down about 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. Stock futures had turned higher after Russian President
said in televised remarks that there had been positive developments during talks with Ukraine, even as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian cities.
Major indexes are on track to close the week lower, as volatility reigned and inflation fears heightened. The Dow industrials were recently down 1.2% for the week, which would mark its fifth consecutive weekly loss. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are on pace to lose 2% and 2.5%, respectively, for the week, which would cap the fourth weekly loss in the past five weeks for both indexes.
Big swings are now commonplace for major stock indexes, yet even by those standards this week’s jumps and falls have been extreme, some investors and traders said. On Monday, soaring oil prices sent stocks tumbling, with the S&P 500 posting its worst day in over a year. Two days later, the benchmark index jumped 2.6%, its biggest gain since 2020.
Next week could bring more choppiness. The Federal Reserve meets next Tuesday and Wednesday to vote on whether to raise the base interest rate and by how much. Fed-funds futures, used by traders to wager on interest-rate moves, see a 96% probability of a rate increase of 0.25 percentage point at next week’s meeting. A month ago, Fed-funds futures showed a 50% probability of a rate increase of 0.50 percentage point.
Among the worst performers this week: technology companies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite entered bear market territory on Monday, defined as falling 20% from its recent high. Rising inflation has pressured tech stocks, traders said.
“Earnings growth expectations are slowing dramatically, and at the same time inflation is rampant. That means tech stocks that depend on big earnings growth are getting hit hard,” said
Dan Morgan,
a senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Co., which owns shares of several tech heavyweights.
On Friday, Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark, were up 2.7% at $112.28, having pared some gains after Mr. Putin’s comments. Oil prices are hovering near their highest level in years, despite retreating in recent days. Earlier this week, the United Arab Emirates said it would push the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to pump more oil, helping assuage some fears about a supply crunch.
In New York trading, shares of
tumbled 20% after the software maker released softer-than-expected guidance….
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