Dow tumbles 465 points, narrowly avoids correction, as Russia-Ukraine tensions ratchet higher Market Snapshot

By Mark DeCambre and Clive McKeef

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Investors “need to ask themselves ‘will stock markets be higher than this when I retire? Looking at financial market history, the answer is probably ‘yes’, if they have a decade or more ahead of them,” said Nigel Green of financial advisory and asset management firm deVere Group.

Meanwhile, a more infectious subvariant of omicron, BA.2, has surged to account for more than a third of global COVID-19 cases, adding to the debate about whether countries are ready for full reopening, and contributing to concerns about the broader economic rebound taking hold.

The geopolitical risks and worries about COVID have investors wrestling with the outlook for the business environment, with the Federal Reserve set to embark on a rate-raising cycle, starting as soon as next month, to tamp down surging inflation.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said Wednesday that the economy doesn’t have to experience a severe recession like the late 1970s and early 1980s just because inflation has returned to 40-year highs.

“Now inflation is high again and many are concerned that we could soon be facing another long and painful period, followed by another long and painful correction. But that is not what I see,” Daly said in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

Which companies were in focus?

Shares of Kodiak Sciences Inc. KOD finished down over 80% Wednesday after the biopharmaceutical company said a Phase 2b/3 trial of its treatment for age-related macular degeneration failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint.
Nucor Corp . NU said Wednesday that Chief Financial Officer Jim Frias will retire, after 12 years in the role and 31 years at the steelmaker. Its stock ended down 0.6%.
TJX Cos. TJX stock sank 4.2% Wednesday after the off-price retailer, and parent of TJ Maxx, reported fourth quarter profit and sales that missed expectations.
Shares of Lowe’s Companies LOW levitated about 0.3% after the home-improvement retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations, and provided an upbeat full-year earnings outlook.
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc .’s /zigman2/quotes/208333884/composite SPCE +1.87% stock rallied 3.5% on Wednesday after the company reassured investors it was on track to fly space tourists this year and to ready its next generation of spaceships.
Shares of online retailer Overstock.com /zigman2/quotes/200022359/composite OSTK +4.63% closed up 23% higher after the company beat earnings expectations.

How did other assets fare?

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y rose 2.9 basis points to 1.976%, pulling back after approaching 2% intraday. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY , a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.2% at 96.187.
Bitcoin BTCUSD rose 2% to $38,027.
Oil futures rose, with West Texas Intermediate crude CL00 settling 19 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $92.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold GC00 for April delivery ticked up 0.2% to settle at $1,910.40 an ounce, marking the highest settlement for a most-active contract since January 2021, according to FactSet.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP closed about 0.3% lower, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX eked out a positive finish, up less than 0.1%.
In Asia, the Hang Seng /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +0.46% in Hong Kong gained 0.6% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -0.04% rose 0.9%. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.