U.S. stock futures were flat to slightly lower Tuesday after a three-day losing streak, attempting to stabilize after a report that the European Union was planning its second regionwide spending spree to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
What’s happening
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, +0.08% edged down 19 points, or 0.1%, to 32,763.
- S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.05% were down 0.1% at 4,194.75.
- Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, -0.22% fell 0.4% to 13,260.50.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.37% tumbled nearly 800 points, or 2.7%, while the S&P 500 SPX, -2.95% fell 3% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -3.62% lost 3.6%.
The Dow’s decline saw the blue-chip gauge enter a market correction, as the benchmark was 11% lower than its Jan. 4 record high, while the Nasdaq entered a bear market, with the tech-heavy index down more than 20% from its record peak in November.
What’s driving markets
A report by Bloomberg News that the European Union was looking to jointly finance energy and military spending briefly brought some cheer to beleaguered markets.
European leaders are meeting in Versailles this week to announce plans to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, though the Bloomberg report said the joint spending plan would come after this meeting.
“Hopes that European countries will be given financial breathing space through a huge joint bond issue helped bring a sense of calm to equity markets in early trading in Europe,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The gyrations in commodities markets continued, this time in nickel, where on the London Metal Exchange, prices jumped past $100,000 per ton before a trading halt.
Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said the country could cut vital gas supplies to Europe, and said oil prices could jump to $300 per barrel if the West imposed a ban on Russian oil. Oil futures CL.1, +5.04% were trading around $122 per barrel in early action.
Read: What soaring oil prices mean for the stock market as Dow tumbles into correction
Which companies are in focus?
- Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -4.19% said Tuesday it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant Inc. MNDT, +16.05% for $23 a share or about $5.4 billion in cash. The stock closed Monday at $22.49. Mandiant shares were down 3.4% in premarket trade, while Alphabet declined 0.5%.
What are other assets doing?
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped nearly 10 basis points to 1.844%. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other.
- The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.17%, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.2%.
- Gold futures GC00, +1.40% rose 1% to $2,015.70 an ounce.
- Bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.77% was up 2% near $38,750.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.21% fell 0.7%, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.01% was down 0.5%.
- The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -2.35% dropped 2.4%, while the Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.39% fell 1.4% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, -1.71% declined 1.7%.
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