Dow futures slumped 1.7%, S&P 500 futures dropped 2% and Nasdaq futures were 2.7% lower
US stock futures tumbled and oil prices surged Monday morning as investors grew increasingly concerned about the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wall Street, Dow futures slumped nearly 600 points, or 1.7%. S&P 500 futures dropped 2% and Nasdaq futures were 2.7% lower.
In Asia, markets mostly declined. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.4%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.3%, while China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.1%. Korea’s Kospi erased earlier gains and was nearly flat.
Global markets had been turbulent last week after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, and the pain has spread beyond stocks.
The Russian ruble plunged 36% Monday against the US dollar to 114.11, after Western countries announced new sanctions against Russia, including expelling certain Russian banks from SWIFT, the high-security network that connects thousands of financial institutions around the world.
The disruption to oil in particular is concerning to investors. Oil prices surged. Brent crude, the international benchmark, advanced 4.2% to $102.05 a barrel. US crude added 5.2% to $96.33 a barrel.
The conflict also threatens to exacerbate food inflation as Russia is the world’s top exporter of wheat, and Ukraine is also a significant exporter of both wheat and corn. Wheat futures surged 7% on the Chicago Board of Trade.
The market had been up quite a bit toward the end of last week as investors were hopeful the spillover effect from the invasion would be limited, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corporation. But Wall Street grew concerned again as the situation deteriorated over the weekend.
There was so much information over the course of the weekend, Hogan said. It’s almost impossible to understand exactly what this means for the earnings power of US companies. As things have gotten more complicated, tensions have increased, it’s hard to know exactly how you land as an investor.
