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Stocks were lower Tuesday on reports that Europe could impose even more sanctions on Russia as Ukraine’s president was scheduled to speak at the U.N. about civilian casualties.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures fell 78 points, or 0.2%, while
S&P 500
futures declined 0.2%, and
Nasdaq Composite
futures dipped 0.1%.
“A sense of caution has taken hold of financial markets as investors evaluate the prospects of more sanctions,” says Lukman Otunuga, an analyst at broker FXTM.
The European Commission is expected to propose fresh sanctions on Russia, which include a ban on Russian coal and could result in cutting off access of Russian road and shipping goods carriers to the European Union. Elsewhere, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday that all 27 member nations of the EU are determined to impose coal and oil sanctions on Russia. While they would serve as a punishment for Russia, they would also contribute to the already-high inflation that threatens to reduce consumer spending.
Overall, the “Ukraine conflict adds more uncertainty, especially via commodity prices,” writes Robert Buckland, equity strategist at Citigroup.
The price of WTI Crude oil had risen 1% to $104 a barrel, and is now up almost 5% this week.
That isn’t helping a stock market that is concerned about an inflationary shock around the globe. Even before the latest geopolitical news broke, the S&P 500 had hit a ceiling. The index, at just under 4,600, has been unable to sustainably move higher than that level in the past few months.
“From our standpoint, the S&P 500 now appears stuck in a bit of a holding pattern (between 4,500 and 4,600) after the short-covering rally has run its course,” writes Rosenberg Research’s David Rosenberg.
Overseas, the pan-European
Stoxx 600
gained 0.1% while Tokyo’s
Nikkei 225
increased 0.2% in a quiet session in Asia, where markets in both Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed.
Here are four stocks on the move Tuesday:
Twitter
(ticker: TWTR) rose nearly 3% in the U.S. premarket, building on a 27% jump on Monday following news that
Tesla
(TSLA) CEO Elon Musk had taken a 9.2% stake in the social media group, making him its single-largest shareholder.
Carnival
(CCL) surged almost 4% in premarket trading after the tour group said that the one-week period of March 28 to April 3 was the busiest week for bookings in the company’s history.
Renault
(RNO.France) slipped 1.2% in Paris trading following news reports, citing analysts, that the auto maker was considering a possible breakup and initial public offering of its electric-vehicle arm,
Vestas Wind Systems
(VWS.Denmark) climbed more than 9% in Copenhagen trading after the wind power group was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank highlighted that an energy crisis in the European Union added weight to the argument for increased wind power installations.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com
Read More: Stocks Dip Amid Prospect of Tougher Sanctions on Russia