Relief rally on the Wall amid hopes of easing the Ukrainian crisis

Wall Street indexes maintained strong gains until the end, despite warnings from US President Joe Biden that a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains possible, with the technological Nasdaq leading the way today with a 2.5% jump.

The rally followed Moscow’s decision to withdraw a small part of its military forces near the Ukrainian border. This initiative rekindled the hopes of investors that the diplomatic fever of the previous days has begun to bear fruit.

However, the US President said in a statement from the White House that the reports about the withdrawal of Russian military units from the Ukrainian border have not yet been confirmed by the United States.

“We are ready to react decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine, which remains a possibility,” Biden warned, again urging the Kremlin to choose the path of diplomacy with the United States and its allies.

Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Olaf Soltz, in a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed confidence that all sides could reach a solution, “no matter how difficult and serious the situation may seem”, while stressing that “For my generation, a war is unthinkable.”

“On the question of whether we want a war or not, of course we do not want it,” he said, adding that hopes for a compromise would continue in the coming days.

Indicators – Statistics

On the board, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 422.67 points or 1.22% and closed at 34,988.84 points, while the broader S&P 500 added 69.40 points or 1.58% to 4,471.07 points. The technology Nasdaq jumped 348.84 points or 2.53% and climbed to 14,139.76 points.

Of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, 26 closed with a positive sign and only four with a negative. Salesforce.com gained the biggest gain with $ 7.85 or 3.80% at $ 214.25, followed by Boeing at $ 217.73 with earnings of 3.66% and American Express at 197.99. USD with an increase of 2.93%.

The three stocks with the biggest losses were Chevron (-0.73%), 3M (-0.42%) and IBM (-0.16%)

Markets, meanwhile, continue to assess the chances of the Federal Reserve launching an aggressive policy-tightening cycle next month to tackle higher inflation in 40 years.

The data released today on the price trend at the producer level did not help allay concerns about the inflation rally. The producer price index rose 1% on a monthly basis in January, double the 0.5% expected by analysts in a Wall Street Journal poll.

On an annual basis, the index jumped 9.7%.

For the rest of the day, the New York Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed to 3.1 in February after falling to -0.7 in January. The index, however, failed to confirm the estimates of analysts who placed it at 12 in a Bloomberg poll. Measurements below zero show a decrease in activity.

The New York Fed survey showed that strong inflationary pressures remain. The price index climbed 17 points to 54.1, the highest level since data collection began in 2001.