Affected by the Fed’s tightening policy news, US stocks opened lower and lower on Friday (8th), and with the start of the US corporate earnings season next week, market trading tends to be cautious, investors wait for the earnings report to be announced before doing decision-making, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is still the focus of investors.

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 100 points or nearly 0.31%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%, the S&P 500 fell 0.49%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.62%.

In terms of the Russian-Ukrainian war, although Russia said it hopes to end military operations within a few days, the exchange of fire in eastern Ukraine has escalated. According to  media reports, the 27 member states of the European Union officially approved the fifth round of sanctions against Russia and decided to ban coal imports from Russia starting in August this year. At the same time, the U.S. Congress yesterday passed two sanctions bills against Russia, including banning Russian energy imports and canceling Russia’s most-favored-nation trade status, and signed by President Biden into effect.

The Central Bank of Russia announced a 300 basis point (12 yd) rate cut today, bringing the benchmark interest rate down to 17%. The dollar was less volatile against the Russian ruble after the announcement of the rate change.

The Bank of Russia said that the latest data showed that the current price growth rate has slowed down significantly, including changes in the exchange rate of the ruble, pointing out that the external environment of the Russian economy remains difficult, financial stability risks still exist, and further interest rate cuts are expected in the next few meetings.

U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Friday, with the 10-year yield rising to 2.713% at the time of writing, while the 5-year and 30-year rates continued to invert. In addition to the inverted yield curve, another recession signal also Lights up: The Dow Jones Transportation Index, seen as an indicator of global economic growth, fell into a bear market on Wednesday, bad news for the U.S. economy and the outlook for U.S. stocks.

In addition, as expectations of a sharp Fed rate hike supported the dollar, the U.S. dollar index rose on Friday, closing at 100.115 at the time of writing, surpassing the 100 mark and approaching a new high since July 2020. Affected by the release of strategic oil reserves, international oil prices stabilized after falling for three consecutive days. West Texas crude oil (WTI) and Brent crude oil rose slightly by 0.1% before the deadline, while the latter fell by 0.26%.

In other news, France will hold its first round of presidential and parliamentary elections over the weekend, with runoffs to be held in two weeks. President Emmanuel Macron’s lead over top-right populist Marine Le Pen has shrunk to just 3.5 percent from about 30 percent at the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, according to the latest polls. Some believe that Ray-Ban is expected to beat Macron in the runoff.

As of 21:00 on Friday (8th) Taipei time:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 106.26 points, or 0.31%, to 34,477.31

The Nasdaq Composite fell 124.59 points, or 0.90%, to 13,772.71

The S&P 500 fell 21.95 points, or 0.49%, to 4,478.26

Feihan fell 51.91 points, or 1.62%, to 3,145.53

TSMC ADR fell 0.37% to $100.15 per share

10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 2.713%

NY Light crude rose 0.01% to $96.04 a barrel

Brent crude fell 0.26% to $100.32 a barrel

Gold rose 0.05% to $1,938.80 an ounce

U.S. dollar index rises to 100.115
S&P 500 Index Line Chart (Graphic: Juheng.com)
S&P 500 Index Line Chart (Graphic: Juheng.com)
Stocks in focus:
Spirit Airlines (SAVE-US) rose 1.74% to $26.97 a share in early trade.
Spirit Airlines had earlier agreed to be acquired by Frontier Airlines parent Frontier Group (ULCC-US), but JetBlue Airways (JBLU-US) made an all-cash offer for Spirit Airlines for $33 per share, totaling $3.6 billion. It believes JetBlue’s offer is a “better proposal” that the board is evaluating and will “take the course of action it believes is in the best interests of Spirit and its shareholders.”

Robin Hood (HOOD-US) fell 6.75% to $11.26 a share in early trade
The stock rating of Robinhood Markets, an online financial services and stock trading platform, was downgraded to “Sell” from “Neutral” by Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs analysts believe that the expectations for Robinhood are generally too optimistic, pointing out that the The bar for companies to be profitable in 2023 is high.