It is always the events related to the war between Ukraine and Russia that condition the trend of Wall Street, as well as of global equities. At 4.15 pm Italian time, the Dow Jones fell by almost 400 points (-1.17%), to 33,221 points; the S&P 500 also falls by 1.17%, to 4,278 points, while the Nasdaq is -1.42% to 13,124 points.
The prospect of an embargo imposed by the West on Russian gas and oil feeds the fear of a stagflation of the world economy (especially the European one).
The umpteenth rally in oil prices is benefiting oil stocks such as, in the case of the US stock exchange, those of Baker Hughes, Valero Energy, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. The banks, on the other hand, confirm their actions mainly beaten. Down Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup.
“The stock market is battling the massive commodity supply shock, particularly oil prices, and in this regard there is a fear that this shock could become a stagflation shock, rather than an inflation shock – he commented to Cnbc
Kathy Bostyancic, Oxford Economics chief US economist – Equities will continue to take a look at changing oil prices and prospects for a Russian oil embargo. ”
Today Brent jumped a step from $ 140 a barrel, to $ 139.13 during trading in Asian markets, to a record since July 2008, with a rally of + 20%, which then more than halved over the course of the year. hours. The contract is now up around 5.3% to around $ 124.41. The WTI also advanced by around 4.6 %%, to around $ 120.91, after flying up to $ 130.50, again its highest since 2008.
The rise in Treasury yields, despite sentiment of upside aversion, confirms fears of accelerating inflationary pressures. Ten-year yields especially advanced 4 basis points to 1.76%.
Stocks to the upside include Bed Bath & Beyond, after GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen revealed he had bought nearly 10% of the equity through his investment firm RC Ventures.
The Bed Bath & Beyond stock soars by more than + 75% in the premarket (now + 55%).
Occidental Petroleum, the new bet by Warren Buffett, CEO and founder of Berkshire Hathaway, also did well.
The American holding company founded and managed by Buffett has acquired a $ 5 billion stake in the oil group Occidental Petroleum. This is what emerged from data from the SEC, which revealed a stake of 91.2 million ordinary shares of the oil giant, worth $ 5.1 billion at the closing value of last Friday’s session, equal to $ 56. , 15.
Last week, both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 lost around 1.3%: the Dow Jones closed in the red for the fourth straight week and the S&P 500 slipped into a correction phase, i.e. to a lower level. more than -10% from its previous record close. The Nasdaq is back 2.8%, and is also in the process of correction.