U.S. Futures tumbled Wednesday night after news emerged that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Futures Down: The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell nearly 500 points as the crisis in Eastern Europe intensified. At press time, the futures traded 464.85 points, or 1.4%, lower at 33,131.76.
The S&P 500 futures were down 1.8% at 4,225.50, while the Nasdaq futures were lower by 2.6% at 13,037.49.
Ahead of the military action being announced — in the after-hours trading — shares of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) were down 0.5% at $159.21, while those of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down 2.1% at $748. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) closed Wednesday 1.8% lower at 421.95.
Both Apple and Tesla ended Wednesday’s regular session lower by 2.6% and 7% respectively at $160.07 at $764.04.
On Wednesday, Putin said clashes between Russia and Ukraine are “inevitable” and only a “question of time” in an address to the Russian people. Social media reports indicate blasts were heard in major Ukrainian cities including the capital Kyiv.
Dollar, Gold, Oil Rally: The dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength against six other international currencies, was up 0.29% at 96.47 at press time.
Spot gold traded 1.14% higher at $1,929.38 at press time. A sharp uptick was seen in oil futures as well with WTI Crude April 22 futures up 3.05% at $94.91 and ICE Brent April 22 futures up 2.7% at $99.44.
