US markets end in red as investors assess Russia-Ukraine tensions

15 Feb 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended in red on Monday. The continued weakness on markets came as kept a close eye on developments regarding the tensions between Ukraine and Russia. President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend, with a senior administration official describing the call as professional and substantive but noting there was no fundamental change in the dynamic that has been unfolding now for several weeks. Besides, traders also remained wary about the outlook for monetary policy following mixed remarks by Federal Reserve officials. While St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he favors front-loading planned interest rate increases, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she prefers a measured pace of rate hikes.

On the sectoral front, energy stocks pulled back sharply after skyrocketing along with the price of crude oil last Friday. The sell-off in the sector came despite another spike by the price of crude oil, as crude for March delivery soared $2.36 to $95.46 a barrel. Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 2.9 percent, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index both tumbled by 2.3 percent. Substantial weakness was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Computer hardware, healthcare and banking stocks also saw notable weakness, while gold stocks moved notably higher along with the price of the precious metal.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 171.89 points or 0.49 percent to 34,566.17, Nasdaq lost 0.23 points to 13,790.92 and S&P 500 was down by 16.97 points or 0.38 percent to 4,401.67.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×