Ukraine Worries Overshadow a Strong Jobs Report

Market racks up fourth straight losing week
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 4, 2022 3:06 PM CST
Ukraine Worries Overshadow a Strong Jobs Report
In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, trader Patrick Casey works on the floor Friday.   (Courtney Crow/New York Stock Exchange via AP)

Often, a stronger-than-expected jobs report translates into a strong day for the market. Not so on Friday, thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Dow fell 179 points to 33,614, the S&P 500 fell 34 points to 4,328, and the Nasdaq fell 224 points to 13,313. As CNBC reports, the Russian seizure of a nuclear plant in Ukraine unnerved investors, resulting in a fourth straight losing week for the stock market. In fact, markets worldwide have swung wildly over the last week on worries about how high prices for oil, wheat, and other commodities produced in the region will go because of Russia’s invasion, inflaming the world’s already high inflation, per the AP.

Treasury yields sank again as investors moved money into US government bonds in search of safety, and a measure of nervousness on Wall Street climbed. All the movements came despite a much stronger report on US jobs than economists expected, one described as encouraging and even “fantastic.” “The COVID recovery was in full bloom in the jobs report,” said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Allspring Global Investments. “The tricky part is the future, not the past,” he said, as US crude oil prices climbed above $115 per barrel amid worries about pressure on supplies because of the Ukrainian war. “Higher fuel and food costs can eat into consumers’ budgets. Those high costs can be a boon for oil producers and farmers, but not for everyone else.” (More stock market stories.)

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