In a somewhat unexpected shift, the major US stock markets all finished higher on Thursday despite facing the threat of being forced to join armed conflict in Ukraine in the coming months.
On some levels, given that many of the companies listed on US markets will be impacted by anything more than risk appetite, it wasn’t surprising to see the Nasdaq surge back 3.3% after an early selloff with one in 10 constituents moving sharply higher.
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) gained 6% and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) closer to 5% with neither company likely to be hurt by the global events.
The likes of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Travelers (NYSE: TRV) detracted from the Dow Jones, which finished 0.3% higher, whilst the flood to quality that has dominated the last few years continued, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.6% on rallies in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
Outside of geopolitical concerns, Ukraine is an important part of the supply chain for a number of commodities including grain, which puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision to hike rates; bond yields fell in response.
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to follow this strong global lead to open higher this morning. For a round-up of the latest news, check out my ASX 200 morning report.
