Futures steady after sharp tumble on Wall Street

[March 08, 2022]  (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures stabilized on Tuesday, after a steep sell-off on Wall Street in the previous session as investors assessed the impact of a spike in oil prices and Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in Times Square in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

The Nasdaq on Monday ended down 20.1% from its Nov. 19 record high close, confirming the tech-heavy index has been in a bear market since hitting that record high, according to a widely used definition.

The Dow confirmed it was in a correction from its Jan. 4 all-time closing peak. A correction is confirmed when an index closes 10% or more below its record closing level.

Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 index lost $1.08 trillion on Monday, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, as investors worried over soaring crude prices on a possible ban of Russian oil imports fueling higher inflation.

Travel and leisure stocks, among the hardest hit in the previous session's plummet, led the rebound in premarket trading. United Airlines Holdings Inc and Carnival Corp rose 2.4% and 3.7%, respectively.

Oil and gas producers extended a recent rally. Marathon Oil Corp added 1.1% to lead the gains. The S&P 500 energy sector has climbed 36.9% so far this year, the best performing sector.

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and other big U.S. banks rose 1% each, tracking U.S. 10-year Treasury yields, which climbed above 1.80% after hitting a two-month low on Monday. [US/]

Tesla Inc rose 0.7% after the electric vehicle maker sold more China-made vehicles in February, according to China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

At 06:39 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 90 points, or 0.27%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 14.5 points, or 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.05%.

U.S. stocks have had a rocky start to 2022 as rising geopolitical tensions deepened a sell-off fueled by worries over aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation.

Ukrainians boarded buses to flee the besieged eastern city of Sumy on Tuesday, the first evacuation from a Ukrainian city through a humanitarian corridor agreed with Russia after several failed attempts in recent days.

The CBOE volatility index fell after closing at its highest level since Jan 2021 in the previous session.

(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.