Wall Street drops on rate fears and tension in Ukraine

A ‘Wall St’ sign is seen above two ‘One Way’ signs in New York August 24, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Feb 11 (Reuters) – Shares on Wall Street fell sharply on Friday for the second day in a row, as investors worried about possible sharp hikes in U.S. interest rates as well as heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Most of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indices fell, led by technology (.SPLRCT) and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) with losses of more than 2% each. The energy sector index (.SPNH) jumped more than 2% as oil prices hit seven-year highs. Read more

Amazon.com Inc fell 3.2% and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) 6.1%, the companies weighing more than all others on the decline in the S&P 500 (.SPX). Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) fell 4.4% and Meta Platforms (FB.O) fell 3.2%, adding to the Facebook owner’s recent deep losses.

The sell-off accelerated in the afternoon as Washington warned Russia was massing more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time. Read more

“We just have to see how it plays out over the weekend and whether or not international leadership can gloss over this,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member of Great Hill Capital LLC in New York. “Otherwise the ripple effects could be significant and that’s what worries the markets.”

In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was down 0.75% at 34,977.6 points, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 1.23% at 4 448.58.

The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) fell 1.97% to 13,905.67.

The US stock market slumped on Thursday after data showed consumer prices jumped 7.5% in January, the biggest annual rise in 40 years, while comments from the Fed Bank Chairman of St. Louis, James Bullard, on aggressive rate hikes rattled investor sentiment. Read more

Traders forecast a half-point rate hike in March with just a slim chance of a smaller quarter-point increase, and big bets for a policy trajectory that would bring rates back into a 1-range range. .75% to 2.00% by the end of the year. Read more

A survey by the University of Michigan showed that US consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in early February, due to expectations that inflation would continue to rise in the near term. Read more

The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street’s Fear Gauge, rose for a second straight session and hit its highest level since late January.

“The market volatility from January has not ended and we expect continued turmoil as investors weigh the prospect of a more aggressive Federal Reserve on rising inflation,” said Richard Saperstein. , Chief Investment Officer, Treasury Partners.

Online real estate platform Zillow Group Inc (ZG.O) jumped 11% after beating Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales, boosted by an 11-fold increase in revenue from its homes segment.

Under Armor Inc (UAA.N) fell about 12% after warning that its profit margin would come under pressure in the current quarter. Read more

Falling issues outnumbered advances on the NYSE by a ratio of 2.48 to 1; on the Nasdaq, a 2.84-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and nine new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 163 new lows.

Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru and Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Maju Samuel and Richard Chang

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