Wall Street ushered in the Fourth Witch Day of U.S. stocks on Friday (18th), and traders were preparing to deal with about $3.5 trillion in financial derivatives that were about to expire. In addition, after several rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, there has been no good news so far; The U.S. and China held a conference call on the same day to discuss the issue of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Investors took a wait-and-see attitude, and U.S. stocks opened lower.
Before the deadline,Dow Jones Industrial Averagedown nearly 150 points or nearly 0.44%,Nasdaq Composite Indexdown 0.29%,S&P 500 Indexdown 0.25%,Philadelphia SemiconductorThe index fell 0.71%.
About $3.5 trillion in financial derivatives is due to expire, Goldman Sachs data shows. Near-value options expiring were the most since 2019, representing a group of investors actively trading around these positions.
It is worth noting that with the expiration of the option contract, investors will re-position their short positions amid concerns about economic growth and the uncertainty of the situation in Ukraine, or choose to follow the recent rebound after betting on the rising trend.
Regarding the Ukraine-Russia war, the two countries have not made progress after several rounds of negotiations, and Russia’s offensive against Ukraine has not stopped. The market believes that Western countries will increase sanctions against Russia. It is expected that supply problems will continue, and commodity prices will rise again. .
International oil prices are still hovering at high points, investors said that the recent rise in oil prices may affect market sentiment and increase concerns about inflation. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for April delivery rose 0.76% to $103.77 a barrel by press time.Brent Crude Futures for May delivery edged up .012% to $106.77 a barrel, both hovering above $100 a barrel.
U.S. President Joe Biden has a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss issues such as the Russian-Ukrainian war and the U.S.-China rivalry. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Biden would make it clear to China that China would be held responsible for any assistance to Russia, but he did not say what the price might be for China.
As of 21:00 on Friday (18th) Taipei time:
Stocks in focus:
GameStop(GME-US) fell 7.1% to $81.47 a share in early trade
Video game retailer GameStop posted a net loss of $147.5 million in the last quarter, or an adjusted loss of $1.86 per share, far less than market estimates, despite fourth-quarter revenue of $2.25 billion, beating market expectations of $2.16 billion. Earn $0.85 per share. However, GameStop said that it is currently strengthening its relationship with game brands and trying to open up new sources of revenue, and plans to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) mall by the end of April.
Modena (MRNA-US) rose 2.54% to $172.54 a share in early trade
Moderna is applying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization for a fourth booster dose to all U.S. adults, a move that will make it easier than Pfizer’s (PFE-US) and BioNTech (BNTX-US) The previously applied for supplemental supplements for seniors over 65 covered a wider range of populations.
Modena said the authorization would allow a fourth booster dose to be administered to all adults, and would give the CDC flexibility to decide on the use of the fourth dose and allow health care workers to determine who is eligible for a booster dose. drug benefit.
Boeing (BA-US) rose 1.16% to $192.39 a share in early trade
Boeing is expected to acquire Delta Air Lines (Delta Air Lines), according to people familiar with the matter.DAL-US) an order for 100 737 MAX 10s, currently under negotiation between the two companies. The deal, if confirmed, would be Delta’s first purchase of the 737 MAX family of planes and the company’s first purchase from Boeing in 10 years.
In the past, Boeing and Delta Air Lines have had a cold relationship. The latter is the only major U.S. airline that has not ordered 737 MAX planes. In the past, there have been reports of Delta ordering Boeing 737 MAX planes, but no agreement was reached. . Boeing and Delta are still negotiating details, and a deal could be announced as early as next month, people familiar with the matter said.
Today’s key economic data:
- U.S. existing home sales in February totaled 6.02 million units, expected 6.1 million units, the previous value of 6.5 million units
Wall Street Analysis:
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC markets, said that market sentiment remains volatile, and although there has been improvement in the past two weeks, further escalation of market risks is a real concern.
Peter Chatwell, head of multi-asset strategy at Mizuho International, said he sees further downside in risk assets over the medium term in an environment of tighter monetary policy and rising global inflation risks.