US stocks continue to slide as Russia-Ukraine tensions rise

• Dow dropped by 300 points, 10-year treasury yield rises by 3 basis points

• Oil prices jump amid speculations of Russia’s military takeover of Ukraine  

US stocks continued to drift lower on Friday after investors dumped risky assets amid rising inflation, weakening consumer sentiment, and increased tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

At 2:26 PM ET, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 57 points, or 0.2%, to 35,185. The S&P 500 fell by 22 points, or 0.5%, at 4,482. The Nasdaq Composite dropped by 120 points, or 0.8%, to 14,065.

Friday’s fall turned the S&P 500 lower for the week, down 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite was headed for a 0.2% weekly drop; the Dow remained up 0.3%.

Stocks slipped in afternoon trading after oil prices increased after concerns about Russia taking military action against Ukraine heightened.

Also read: White House warns for chipmakers to diversify supplies amid tensions with Russia

At a White House briefing, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that there were signs of Russia escalation at the Ukraine border. He said it was possible that an invasion could take place during the Olympics, despite speculation to the contrary.

Both the US and UK have asked their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.

Analyzing asset performance

Some defense stocks moved higher after Ukraine headlines crossed. Northrop Grumman jumped about 4%. Lockheed Martin added more than 2%.

Data released by the Labour Department on Thursday showed that the consumer price index rose 0.6 % in January after rising 0.5 % in December. The CPI increased by a 7.5 % annual rate in January. This was the largest year-on-year gain since February 1982, and it came on the heels of a 7 % increase in December.

Also read: US inflation reaches 7.5 % in January, highest since February 1982

Meanwhile, safer bets like Treasuries have seen yields rise as investors anticipate that January’s figures will strengthen the central bank’s plans to scale back its bond-purchasing program as quickly as possible. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note continued to rise, increasing by 3 basis points to 2.059%.

Energy stocks move higher alongside the price of oil with the Energy Select Sector rose by 1.8%. Diamondback Energy gained 2.2% and Devon Energy was up 2.6%. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips rose by 1.8% and 1.3%, respectively.

Shares of travel stocks like airlines dropped sharply. The shares of American Airlines fell 6%. Semiconductor stocks including Advanced Micro Devices and Xilinx fell about 8%.

Also Read: US consumer sentiment sinks in early February amid inflation concerns

(Inputs from MarketWatch)