- US stocks tumbled on Friday as investors’ attention was drawn to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising oil prices.
- Major Wall Street benchmarks ended lower for the week.
- The US economy added 678,000 jobs in February, above about 440,000 jobs.
U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday as investors ended the week with Russia advancing in its invasion of Ukraine and soaring oil prices, developments that overshadowed a strong monthly jobs report.
Major benchmarks finished session lows but still ended the week with losses. The S&P 500 was dragged lower by declines in financials, technology and consumer discretionary stocks, as this group came under pressure as oil prices remained high at 2008 highs. push national average gas prices toward $4 a gallon.
Here’s where the US indices were at 4:00 p.m. Friday:
Stocks briefly pared losses after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 678,000 jobs in February, well above estimates of 440,000. The unemployment rate fell from 4% to 3, 8%, also exceeding forecasts.
But stocks could not weather developments in Russia before the weekend. Russian troops have taken control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, located in southeastern Ukraine. The development came after troops captured the southern city of Kherson. Meanwhile, Russian forces continued fierce missile attacks on Kiev and Kharkiv. NATO officials have warned that the situation in Ukraine is likely to worsen in the coming days.
The S&P Dow Jones Indices will remove all Russian stocks from their benchmarks next week following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Index providers MSCI and FTSE Russell made similar moves this week.
According to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, many major cryptocurrency exchanges likely offer securities available for trading, which puts them within the legal purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Oil prices have gone up. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 5% to $115.44 a barrel. Brent, the international benchmark, gained 4% to trade at $118.51.
The price of gold rose 2.2% to $1,942.70 per ounce.
The 10-year yield fell 11 basis points to 1.732%.
Bitcoin fell 6% to $39,840.34.