US Stocks fall as Russia-Ukraine war continues

The US stock market finished lower in choppy trading on Thursday, 03 March 2022, as the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to produce a ceasefire and data showed a measure of U.S. services industry activity dropped to a one-year low in February.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 96.69 points, or 0.29%, to 33,794.66. The S&P500 index dropped 23.05 points, or 0.53%, to 4,363.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 214.07 points, or 1.56%, to 13,537.94.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE exchange by 1919 to 1386 and 176 closed unchanged. In the NASDAQ, 1514 issues advanced, 3183 issues declined, and 295 issues unchanged.

Total 7 of 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes advanced, with top performing issues were utilities (up 1.7%) and ral estate (up 1.1%), while bottom performing issues included consumer discretionary (down 2.3%) and information technology (down 1.2%).

The second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia ended without a ceasefire but parties agreed to open "humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians." Russia is demanding Ukraine Disarm and abandon plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Wall Street surged in the previous session after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he would back a quarter point rate increases at the March 15-16 meeting, assuaging some fears of a more aggressive hike.

Soaring prices of oil and other commodities have stoked fears that recent high inflation could combine with stagnant economic growth, making it more difficult for the Federal Reserve and other major central banks to manage interest rates.

In company news, Kroger shares surged nearly 12% after the supermarkets chain reported better than expected fiscal fourth-quarter results and offered an upbeat annual outlook, encouraged by strong demand for its pick-up and delivery services and sustained home-cooking trends.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc slid 9.3% after the apparel chain forecast a decline in earnings for the first half of 2022.

Okta shares fell 8.1% after the cloud security software supplier provided a fiscal 2023 profit outlook below market expectations.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The seasonally adjusted number of initial unemployment claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ended Feb. 26, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

The Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday its non-manufacturing activity index fell to 56.5 last month, the lowest reading since February 2021, from 59.9 in January.

Among Indian ADR, INFOSYS fell 0.3% to $22.52, Wipro sank 0.27% to $7.30, HDFC Bank sank 2.8% to $59.51, ICICI Bank fell 3.3% to $18.23, Tata Motors fell 6.1% to $28.08, and WNS Holdings fell 1% to $82.25, Dr Reddys Labs fell 3.86% to $49.25, and Azure Power Global sank 0.06% to $17.17.

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