US open: Stocks head south as Russia-Ukraine tensions in focus ahead of FOMC minutes
Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Wednesday as investors remained focussed on tensions between Russia and Ukraine and awaited the release of minutes from the latest FOMC meeting later in the day.
As of 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.52% at 34,807.59, while the S&P 500 was 0.65% weaker at 4,441.95 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.14% softer at 13,979.01.
The Dow opened 181.25 points lower on Wednesday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index snapped a three-day losing streak.
Market participants were still locked in on the Russia-Ukraine conflict after NATO officials accused Moscow of continuing to amass troops on the border, just 24 hours after it claimed it was pulling back from the region.
Joe Biden reiterated his vow that the US would defend NATO territory if Russia proceeds. "We will rally the world," he said, adding that Washington and its allies were prepared to impose powerful sanctions that would undermine Russia's ability to "compete economically and strategically".
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note eased off somewhat and was sitting at 2.031% ahead of the open.
On the macro front, US mortgage applications decreased 5.40% in the week ended 11 February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, with the refinancing index plunging 8.9% and the purchase index falling 1.2% as prospective buyers were still struggling with elevated sales prices and higher mortgage rates.
Elsewhere, Americans splashed out with reckless abandon at the start of the year, according to the Department of Commerce, with retail sales volumes jumping at a month-on-month pace of 3.8% in January to reach $649.8bn. Economists had pencilled-in an increase of 1.8%.
On another note, industrial production increased 4.10% year-on-year in January, following an upwardly revised 3.8% rise in December, with manufacturing increasing 2.5%, mining jumping 8.2% and utilities output rising 9.3%.
Finally, business inventories increased 2.10% month-on-month in December, according to the Census Bureau, while the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index decreased to 82 in February from 83 in January.
Still to come, minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's latest policy meeting were scheduled for release at 1900 GMT.
In the corporate space, AMC Networks said it had topped 9.0m streaming subscribers as it posted record full-year revenues, Crocs posted fourth-quarter earnings of $154.9m.
Kraft Heinz reported an earnings beat on the back of increased prices, Hilton Worldwide topped estimates amid a bounce-back in holiday travel demand and Shopify said it expects sales growth slowing in 2022 as pandemic-fuelled online spending was forecast to ease off.
Hyatt Hotels, Marathon Oil, Nvidia, Cheesecake Factory and TripAdvisor will report after the close.
Dow Jones - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $135.63 1.02%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $62.45 0.95%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $172.32 0.42%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $157.43 0.39%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $61.14 0.38%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $48.45 0.31%
American Express Co. (AXP) $198.47 0.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $224.40 0.21%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $53.45 0.17%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $203.56 0.07%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $208.64 -2.62%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $294.40 -2.02%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $170.15 -1.53%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $359.38 -1.25%
Visa Inc. (V) $225.60 -0.97%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $350.40 -0.81%
Boeing Co. (BA) $216.04 -0.77%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $129.16 -0.60%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $48.15 -0.60%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $53.96 -0.58%
S&P 500 - Risers
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $54.20 5.41%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $36.49 5.22%
Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $42.10 5.01%
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) $125.84 4.27%
Macy's Inc. (M) $26.37 3.70%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $93.00 3.64%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $16.04 3.55%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $17.30 3.41%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $33.39 2.68%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $84.02 2.66%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Discovery Inc. Class A (DISCA) $28.56 -6.39%
Discovery Inc. Class C (DISCK) $28.45 -6.20%
Carmax Inc. (KMX) $108.47 -4.28%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $106.39 -4.18%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $117.08 -3.61%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $311.18 -3.49%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $35.71 -3.45%
Abiomed Inc. (ABMD) $294.60 -3.31%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $330.98 -3.26%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $213.97 -3.18%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $36.49 5.22%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $84.02 2.66%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $164.54 1.54%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $214.27 1.10%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $18.93 1.01%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $97.29 0.87%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $678.07 0.49%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $28.57 0.35%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $66.10 0.35%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $48.45 0.31%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $226.62 -3.76%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $330.98 -3.26%
Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) $213.97 -3.18%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,133.30 -3.16%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $256.58 -3.16%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $93.37 -3.00%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $58.18 -2.92%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $496.72 -2.77%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $112.34 -2.70%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $578.04 -2.66%