Extending the sell-off seen in the previous session, the US markets ended sharply lower on Friday amid concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested a Russian invasion could occur during the Winter Olympics currently being held in Beijing. Sullivan also said any Americans in Ukraine should leave the country in the next 24 to 48 hours, reiterating a plea President Joe Biden made on Thursday. The U.K. Foreign Office has also urged British citizens to get out of Ukraine as Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the border. Earlier in the day, uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates led to choppy trading on Wall Street following comments from several Federal Reserve officials. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard indicated he supports raising interest rates by a full percentage point by the start of July, including a possible 50-basis point hike.
On the sectoral front, semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside as the day progressed, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 4.8 percent. Considerable weakness also emerged among airline stocks, resulting in a 4.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Software stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, as reflected by the 3 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Retail, chemical and networking stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, while gold stocks soared as the price of the precious metal spiked in electronic trading. Energy stocks also bucked the downtrend amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil. Crude for March delivery surged $3.22 to $93.10 a barrel amid concerns about the situation in Ukraine.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 503.53 points or 1.43 percent to 34,738.06, Nasdaq dropped 394.49 points or 2.78 percent to 13,791.15 and S&P 500 was down by 85.44 points or 1.90 percent to 4,418.64.
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