US stock index futures opened slightly lower after yesterday's sharp upward rally. It caused a gap down overlap, as well as exponential growth of the stock market. Today, trading started in the red zone as investors assessed the risks associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 292 points, or 0.84%.The S&P 500 futures also declined by 0.86%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures went down 0.77%.
The fact that investors and traders have already partly accepted the military conflict is evidenced by both the sharp decline in safe haven assets and the drop in the commodity market. Commodity prices fell: natural gas futures went down 2.3% to $4.53. West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined, trading at $92.59 a barrel. Brent crude oil is trading at $98.81. Government bond yields were mixed, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note most recently yielding 1.96%, down 1.2 basis points for the session.
The Dow Jones index gained about 90 points yesterday, having lost 859 points at the beginning of the trading session. The Nasdaq Composite Technology Index went up 3.3%, demonstrating a sharp recovery after falling nearly 3.5% earlier in the day.
Notably, yesterday President Joe Biden imposed new economic sanctions against Russia. According to Biden, the US also authorized the deployment of additional troops to Germany so that NATO allies could bolster defenses in the EU.
China blames US
China's Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying was asked by reporters several times whether she would call Russia's attacks an invasion. However, she repeatedly avoided giving a definite answer. Consequently, Hua did not directly represent the view of the Chinese authorities that the US was to blame for the current situation in Ukraine. Nevertheless, she implied this fact clearly. Hua stressed that Russia is an "independent major country" that could act on its own. "China is closely following the development of the situation. What you are seeing today is not what we have wished to see. We hope all parties can go back to dialogue and negotiation," China's Assistant Foreign Minister added. It was reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Wang said that China had always respected each country's sovereignty. According to official data, the Ukraine issue is complex. Wang called for the use of dialogue. However, he did not mention Beijing's previous official position about the need for all parties to maintain restraint.
Stock market volatility will likely increase in the near future and remain high for quite a long period. However, all events will occur over the weekend, when the markets will be closed.
Technical picture of S&P500
Yesterday, the index rose sharply, causing changes. Today, the bulls will try to hold above $4,292. If they fail, the pressure on the trading instrument will increase, resulting in the decline to the area of $4,233. A breakout of this range will intensify the pressure on the index and resume the bear market with the prospect of updating the lows of $4,175 and $4,113. A fast retracement above $4,292 and fixation in this range would stimulate recovery of the market. However, the outcome of today's session is unclear. In case of growth, new sales at $4,341 and $4,378 are likely. The situation will mainly depend on further development of the military conflict in Ukraine and a possible dialogue between the presidents of the two countries.
