4:05pm: Wall Street loses ground at the close
At the close, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% at 4,602 points. The Nasdaq suffered heavier losses, falling 1.2% on the day to finish at 14,442 points. Meanwhile, the Dow suffered the least but was still down 0.2% to close at 35,229 points.
12:00pm: US equities lower midday
US stocks were lower midday Wednesday as investors and traders monitored the war in Ukraine amid rising oil prices.
The market decline comes after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 produced four straight days of gains.
Crude prices, which have soared since the war began, climbed more than 3% to $107.83 per barrel on Wednesday. Germany warned of potential rationing of natural gas due to disputes with Russia, which has not reduced its attacks on Ukraine.
As of noon, the Dow was down 47 points, or 0.13%, to 35,249. The S&P 500 fell 19 points, or 0.42%, to 4,612.
And the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 83 points, or 0.55%, to 14,538.
11.55am: Proactive North America headlines
Vyant Bio (NASDAQ:VYNT) ends 2021 with $20.6M in cash as it sharpens focus on novel drug discovery
Great Atlantic Resources set to drill Jaclyn Main Zone at its Golden Promise property in Newfoundland
Los Andes Copper unveils 2022 planned milestones; announces US$4M investment by Queen's Road Capital
Vicinity Motor reports year-over-year triple-digit increase in 2021 revenue
Albert Labs files provisional patent in the US for its Psilocybe mycelia cultivation process
Arrow Exploration sees oil reserves and net present values strengthen in 2021 at its Colombian and Canadian assets
FPX Nickel creates new subsidiary CO2 Lock to pursue large-scale, low-cost, and permanent carbon capture and storage
Heritage Cannabis sells its interest in technology consulting company Stanley Park Digital for total cash proceeds of approximately C$608,649
New Age Metals (TSX-V:NAM, OTCQB:NMTLF) hits high-grade lithium oxide at Lithium Two project in Manitoba
Orgenesis (NASDAQ:ORGS) sees revenue and profits soar in 2021 as its Point of Care platform gains traction around the globe
Amarillo Gold says its acquisition by a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining and the spin-out of Lavras Gold is expected to occur on April 1, 2022
Cypress Development announces results from Lithium Extraction Pilot Plant in Nevada
Kontrol Technologies Corp (OTCQB:KNRLF, NEO:KNR) secures $16 million HVAC and Automation project for a new high-rise building in the Greater Toronto Area
Red Pine Exploration posts more positive drill results from Wawa gold project, Ontario
ElectraMeccanica (NASDAQ:SOLO) Vehicles announces appointment of Joseph Mitchell as its chief operating officer effective on April 1, 2022
Tocvan Ventures announces initial drill results from its Pilar Gold-Silver project in Mexico
Numinus Wellness completes first MDMA administration in PTSD trial sponsored by MAPS
Willow Biosciences closes out 2021 with $30.1M in cash as it continues to progress its cannabinoid program
American Manganese finds 'significant' rare earth values at its Rocher Deboule project, BC
Psyched Wellness (CSE:PSYC, OTCQB:PSYCF) unveils ‘Calm’ branding for its Amanita Muscaria extract
HighGold (TSX-V:HIGH, OTCQX:HGGOF) Mining hails encouraging new drill results from Munro-Croesus project, which extend historic Croesus vein
BioVaxys Technology to expand cancer vaccine platform with investigator-sponsored trial of colorectal cancer therapy
Tribe Property Technologies partners with UmbraCity, a network of fully automated, smart umbrella rental kiosks
GameSquare Esports says its audience numbers have soared to over 220 million
Vyant Bio (NASDAQ:VYNT) enters collaboration with OrganoTherapeutics to find treatments for Parkinson's Disease
ESE Entertainment signs partnership agreement with Waveform Entertainment
The Valens Company (TSX:VLNS, OTCQX:VLNCF) inks agreement for a 'bought deal' offering to raise aggregate gross proceeds of C$28.125 million
Vicinity Motor closes previously announced registered direct offering for gross proceeds of approximately US$12 million
9.44am: US stocks start in red
US stocks started in the red on Wednesday as the optimism of yesterday over potential peace talks on the war in Ukraine gave way to more scepticism.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed around 68 points at 25,225. The S&P 500 lost 13 at 4,618, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped 88 points to stand at 14,532.
It comes as it emerged that US corporate profits rose again in the fourth quarter of last year, hitting a record high, despite widespread supply and labor shortages. Adjusted pre-tax profits rose 0.7% to an annualized $2.94 trillion in the fourth quarter from $2.92 trillion in the third quarter.
"Reports on Tuesday suggested we're finally seeing a de-escalation in Ukraine, as Russia indicated its intentions to scale back certain military operations. While that was initially viewed as a first step towards a ceasefire, it wasn't long before doubts started to creep in which weighed on sentiment once more," by Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Forex firm Oanda.
"We've all watched how the last couple of months have unfolded so no one is going to get too excited until we see troops leaving Ukraine and a full ceasefire agreed upon. Until then, anything is possible," he added
6.30am: Weaker start predicted
US stocks are expected to open lower on Wednesday as some of the early optimism arising from the progress seen in recent peace talks between Russia and Ukraine begins to fade.
A slight recovery in oil prices also revived worries about inflationary pressures and global growth, further weighing on sentiment.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and those for the S&P 500 were both 0.4% lower, while contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 were down 0.6%.
Into the second month of its invasion of Ukraine and Russia has signaled that it will scale back attacks on Kyiv. While the news brought some cheer to investors still holding out hope that a drawn-out conflict may be avoided, much scepticism remains. The coming days and weeks will tell if Russia will follow through to de-escalate hostilities on the ground.
“US and European futures are trading lower while investors continue to pay close attention to the landmark shift in geopolitical tension in Ukraine. Oil prices are highly volatile on the back of Russian military news, and traders are awaiting significant economic numbers, determining the future path for US equity markets,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at avatrade.com.
“Volatility in oil prices has taken another turn as traders are trying to make sense of the recent changes in geopolitical tensions. Basically, on the one hand, you have good news that there is some de-escalation in geopolitical uncertainty as Russia has withdrawn some army from Kyiv," he added.
Benchmark Brent crude futures were up 2.2% at $110.12 a barrel. Oil prices have been recovering after a COVD-19-related lockdown imposed on Shanghai dampened prices earlier this week but uncertainties over Russia and Ukraine are expected to keep markets nervous.
“On the other hand, the US hasn't acknowledged this thoroughly as it is saying that Russia's dial back on its military strategy in Ukraine is minuscule. The issue here is sanctions on Russian energy, which has put the oil supply further out of whack. If the US acknowledges that Russia is moving in the right direction, we can see the oil supply issues easing off. But if the US stance doesn't shift significantly, we will likely see oil supply issues anchored in place,“ Aslam said.
With US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell recently noting the strength of the labor market in the world’s biggest economy, much attention will be on this afternoon’s US ADP employment figures which are seen as foreshadowing the crucial US non-farm payroll data due out on Friday.
“Last month, we saw tremendous improvement in the US labor market, making the Fed raise the interest rate. Traders are expecting a decent number this time as well, and the forecast is for 455K while the previous reading was 475K. A strong reading is likely to trigger a risk-on rally for the US equities as investors will feel more comfortable with the Fed's tightening of monetary policy. If the number misses the forecast and shows weakness, speculators are likely to punish the markets because they believe that the Fed is making another policy mistake,” concluded Aslam.
The ADP data is due out at 1.15pm ET.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com