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Stock markets around the globe slumped, oil prices broke above
$100 a barrel, while safe havens gold and government bonds
surged in the flight to safety.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea, confirming
the worst fears of the West with the biggest attack by one state
against another in Europe since World War Two. The United States
and its allies promised tough sanctions against Russia in
response.
Futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 fell 2.6%. If the losses stick
through regular trading hours, the index could confirm bear
market territory, or a 20% decline from its November record
closing high.
Dow futures also indicated that the blue-chip index was set to
confirm a correction from its all-time closing high on Jan. 4. A
correction is confirmed when an index closes 10% or more below
its record closing level.
The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear
gauge, was last trading at 36.41, its highest since Jan. 24.
"Sentiment, broadly, is in the dumps," said Craig Erlam, senior
market analyst at OANDA.
"It's not a shock response because this has been building for
weeks but really it is the realization that diplomacy has
failed."
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc dropped 4%, while other major
Wall Street lenders fell over 3% each. Tesla Inc dropped 5.9% to
lead losses among the mega-cap growth names.
Oil stocks topped all three indexes in premarket trading with
Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp climbing 3.7% and 4.9%,
respectively, as the attack exacerbated worries that a war in
Europe could disrupt global energy supplies. [O/R]
At 05:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 682 points, or 2.06%,
S&P 500 e-minis were down 83.5 points, or 1.98%, and Nasdaq 100
e-minis were down 347.5 points, or 2.57%.
Defense stocks General Dynamics, Raytheon Technologies and
Lockheed Martin Corp gained between 2.2% and 3.1%.
Fears of a war in eastern Europe have hammered stocks in recent
days putting the main indexes on track for their worst week in a
month, down between 2.8% and 3.8% as of Wednesday's close.
EBay Inc slumped 10.7% after it forecast bleak first-quarter
results, as the e-commerce platform tackles waning online
demand, stiff competition and global supply chain disruptions.
(Reporting by Susan Mathew and Devik Jain in Bengaluru,
additional reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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