US markets end sharply higher amid easing geopolitical concerns

16 Feb 2022 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday after Russia appeared to be backing away from an immediate invasion of Ukraine, cooling geopolitical tensions that have knocked the stock market down the last three days. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said units from Russia's southern and western military districts, which border Ukraine, have already begun returning to their bases after completing combat training. On the sectoral front, airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 5.6 percent. The index ended the session at its best closing level in three months. Substantial strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 5.5 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Networking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, resulting in a 3.9 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

On the economic data front, Producer prices in the US jumped by much more than expected in the month of January, according to a report released by the Labor Department. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand surged up by 1.0 percent in January after rising by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in December. Street had expected producer prices to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, after reporting a slight decrease in regional manufacturing activity in the previous month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a modest increase in activity in the month of February. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index rose to a positive 3.1 in February from a negative 0.7 in January.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 422.67 points or 1.22 percent to 34,988.84, Nasdaq surged 348.84 points or 2.53 to 14,139.76 and S&P 500 was up by 69.4 points or 1.58 percent to 4,471.07.

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