Brent surpassing $107 and U.S. crude above $106 per barrel

US stock markets: Wall Street slumped today, with financial stocks bearing the brunt of the damage for a second straight day as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened and stirred anxiety among investors. 

All 11 major S&P sectors declined, with financials tumbling 4.3% and tracking their biggest daily percentage decline since June 2020. Wells Fargo lost 6.1%, while the broader banks index slid 5.7% as U.S. 10- year Treasury yields slumped to five-week lows amid a flight to safe-haven debt. Chevron Corp climbed 2.7% to hit a record high after the oil major also raised its share buyback program and forecast for operating cash flow through 2026, and as oil prices surged. 

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Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes and rained rockets on the city of Kharkiv as Russian commanders intensified their bombardment of Ukrainian urban areas in a shift of tactics after their six-day assault stalled. The conflict has drawn sharp reprisals from the West including the blocking of certain Russian lenders’ access to the SWIFT international payment system.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.76%. The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp, which rose 3.9722% or 5.71 points to trade at 149.72 at the close. Meanwhile, Home Depot Inc. added 1.3995% or 4.42 points to end at 320.25 and Walmart Inc. was up 0.6141% or 0.82 points to 135.99 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were American Express Company, which fell 8.4713% or 16.47 points to trade at 178.05 at the close. Boeing Co declined 5.0794% or 10.43 points to end at 194.91 and JPMorgan Chase & Co was down 3.7729% or 5.34 points to 136.44.

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NASDAQ 100

The NASDAQ index fell 1.59%. The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Avenue Therapeutics Inc. which rose 78.46% to 0.60, CTi Biopharma Corp which was up 63.15% to settle at 3.09 and Gbs which gained 50% to close at 0.69. The worst performers were Vroom which was down 46.54% to 3.25 in late trade, Mullen Automotive Inc. which lost 39.34% to settle at 1.02 and Goodrx Holdings Inc. which was down 38.94% to 16.72 at the close.

Oil price - Crude Oil market, Brent Oil market

Oil prices surged over 7% on Tuesday to their highest since 2014, as a global agreement to release crude reserves failed to calm fears about supply disruptions from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes the United States and Japan, agreed to release 60 million barrels of crude from their reserves to try to quell the sharp increase in prices that pushed major benchmarks past $100 a barrel. However, news of that release - equivalent to less than one day of worldwide oil consumption - only magnified the market's fear that supply will be inadequate to cover growing disruptions. 

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U.S WTI crude rose $7.69, or 8.0%, to settle at $103.41. That was its highest close since July 2014 and its biggest daily percentage gain since November 2020. Markets rallied further in thin post-close trading, with Brent surpassing $107 and U.S. crude above $106 per barrel after the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said U.S crude stocks fell by more than 6 million barrels in the most recent week.

Precious and Base Metals - Gold price, Silver price, Palladium price

Gold was down today morning in Asia as the U.S. dollar strengthens. Gold futures were down 0.26% to $1,938.75. The yellow metal rose about 6.5% in February, hitting an 18-month high of $1,973.96 last week. The dollar, which normally moves inversely to gold, inched up 0.04%. 

Investors are flocking to safe-haven assets as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified. Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes, and Russian commanders have intensified the bombardment of Ukrainian cities. The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield rose to 1.7548% from 1.711% late on Tuesday. Investors are concerned about aggressive interest rate hikes of the U.S. Federal Reserve in the next few months amid the Ukraine tensions and soaring inflation. 

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Investors also await Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday and Thursday for more clues on interest rate hikes. SPDR Gold Trust, holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 1.3% to 1,042.38 tones on Tuesday, the highest since July 2021. In other precious metals. 

Palladium rose 1.2%, after hitting a seven-month peak of $2,722.79 on Tuesday. Russia is the biggest producer of palladium, with Moscow-based Nornickel accounting for 40% of the metal’s global mine production last year. Silver fell 0.9%, while platinum was up 0.1%. Palladium rose today, extending gains after hitting a seven-month peak in the previous session as the Russia-Ukraine crisis worsened, while gold fell after the dollar strengthened. 

The war and the sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia significantly cut off access to Russian palladium supply. Ukraine's besieged cities were bracing for more attacks on Wednesday, as Russian commanders facing fierce Ukrainian resistance intensify their bombardment of urban areas in a push toward the capital Kyiv.

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Traditional Agricultures - Corn futures

Corn futures jumped by their daily limit while wheat futures spiked after hitting 13-1/2-year highs on Friday on concerns that Russia's attack on Ukraine will continue to disrupt exports from the Black Sea region. Ukrainian ports will remain closed until Russia's invasion ends, the head of Ukraine's Maritime Administration said.

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