Stock Market Today: Stocks Drop on Russia-Ukraine, Fed Uncertainty
Today's batch of Fed presenters failed to give specifics on the central bank's rate-hike plans.
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Newsletter sign up Newsletter

Stocks were dragged lower for a second straight day after several U.S. officials issued warnings that Russia could attack Ukraine in the next several days.
Also, presentations by several members of the Federal Open Market Committee left investors wanting for more detail about the central bank's impending tightening plans.
Among them was New York Fed President John Williams, who, while speaking at a New Jersey City University event, said "it will be appropriate to raise the target rate" in March but didn't specify by how much.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Also in focus today was data from the National Association of Realtors that showed existing-home sales climbed 6.7% month-over-month in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million units.
This was the biggest sequential rise since July 2020, says Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO. And the gains were broad-based across both categories of homes and regions in the U.S. According to Lee, this is likely indicative of "the rush to get in before borrowing costs move higher. The Fed's communication has been crystal clear on that front … warning that higher rates are just around the corner."
At the close, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2%% at 13,548, the S&P 500 Index was off 0.7% at 4,348 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a 0.7% loss at 34,079 – though all three indexes finished off their session lows.
As a reminder, the U.S. stock market will be closed Monday in observance of Presidents' Day.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 gave back 0.9% to end at $2,009.
- U.S. crude futures shed nearly 0.8% to settle at $81.07 per barrel.
- Gold futures slipped 0.1% to $1,899.80 an ounce.
- Bitcoin fell 2.2% to $40,032.78. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
- DraftKings (DKNG (opens in new tab)) plunged 21.6% after the sports betting company reported earnings. In its fourth quarter, DKNG reported a slimmer-than-expected adjusted loss of 35 cents per share on higher-than-anticipated revenue of $473 million. But the firm said it expects a fiscal 2022 adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) loss of $825 million to $925 million, wider than what Wall Street is projecting. "DraftKings is facing intense pressure from newer entrants in the mobile sports betting space from established brands like Caesars and BetMGM," says Jonathan Dube, executive in residence at investment bank Progress Partners. "Investors will be watching new state rollouts aggressively. The recent rollouts in New York and Louisiana have pushed off projected profitability from Q4 2022 to at least Q4 2023, according to the latest guidance, due to intense competition and high marketing costs."
- Roku (ROKU (opens in new tab)) was another post-earnings loser, shedding 22.3% after the streaming giant's fourth-quarter results. ROKU recorded adjusted earnings of 17 cents per share for the three-month period, higher than the 9 cents per share analysts were anticipating. However, fourth-quarter revenue of $865.3 million fell short of the $894 million expected by Wall Street and the company offered up current-quarter revenue guidance below analysts' consensus forecast. "After its relatively lackluster fourth-quarter results, ROKU sees global supply-chain disruptions and inflationary pressures still weighing on its 2022 active account growth and video monetization in some ad categories," says CFRA Research analyst Tuna Amobi, who maintained a Hold rating on the stock. "Still, we think ROKU remains relatively well-positioned for an accelerated secular shift to streaming from traditional TV, likely to bode well for longer-term audience engagement."
What Corporate America is Really Talking About
While the stock market may be worried about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, S&P 500 companies don't seem to be.
"During each corporate earnings season, it is not unusual for companies to comment on subjects that had an impact on their earnings and revenues in a given quarter, or may have an impact on earnings and revenues in future quarters," says John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet.
But in a search of all S&P 500 firms that had earnings conference calls between Dec. 15 and Feb. 17, "Ukraine" was cited in just 4% of those calls. "By contrast, 72% of S&P 500 companies have cited 'inflation' on earnings calls over this same period," Butters adds.
While companies often have options in combating higher inflation, so too do investors. One potential way to guard a portfolio against inflation risk is with defensive, dividend-paying plays such as healthcare stocks or real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Another is to consider consumer staples stocks, which tend to hold up during periods of higher prices. Read on as we look at some of the best consumer staples stocks for 2022, many of which offer investors some level of defense against rising prices.
With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is an investing editor and options expert at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Higher in Volatile Session
The major indexes spent most of Thursday in rally mode, but selling pressure emerged in afternoon trading.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Federal Electric Bike Tax Credit Would Offer up to $1,500
Lawmakers have proposed a bigger version of an e-bike bill that would provide a tax credit of up to $1,500 on some new electric bikes.
By Kelley R. Taylor • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Higher in Volatile Session
The major indexes spent most of Thursday in rally mode, but selling pressure emerged in afternoon trading.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Amazon Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
Amazon AMZN stock has lost almost $900 billion in value since its all-time high, but bulls say it's only a matter of time before it reclaims its heights.
By Dan Burrows • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Sink After Latest Fed Rate Hike
The major indexes sold off sharply Wednesday even amid signs the Fed's rate-hike campaign could be nearing an end.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Up Again as Bank, Energy Stocks Outperform
The major indexes closed higher for a second straight day ahead of tomorrow's highly anticipated Fed decision.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise Ahead of Fed
Bank headlines dominated another choppy day of trading on Wall Street.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Fall After First Republic Bank Suspends Dividend
The embattled lender's dividend cut was just the latest sign of instability in the banking industry.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rally on Credit Suisse, First Republic Bank Rescue News
Reports that major U.S. banks would step in to help First Republic Bank helped stocks swing higher Thursday.
By Karee Venema • Published
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Netflix Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
Netflix Netflix stock is down almost 60% from its all-time closing high, but it's still a big-time market beater.
By Dan Burrows • Published