Stocks declined on Friday after rising earlier in the day as investors sold off risky assets as tensions increased between Ukraine and Russia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 500 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9%% and 2.7% lower, respectively.
Market benchmarks also ended the week in the red, with the Nasdaq losing over 2% to be the week's underperformer. The Dow and S&P 500 also ended the week down -0.87% and -1.71%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Pfizer, BioNTech to delay FDA COVID vaccine authorization request for young children:
Pfizer
"Given that the study is advancing at a rapid pace, the companies will wait for the three-dose data as Pfizer and BioNTech continue to believe it may provide a higher level of protection in this age group," Pfizer said in a press statement. "This is also supported by recent observations of three dose booster data in several other age groups that seems to meaningfully augment neutralization antibody levels and real world vaccine protection for Omicron compared to the two-dose regimen. The companies expect to have three-dose protection data available in early April."
Oil prices jumps as U.S., England urge citizens to leave Ukraine:
Oil prices increased on Friday as escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia started to impact commodities and the United States and United Kingdom urge citizens to leave Ukraine.
President Joe Biden warned U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine immediately on NBC News Thursday night. "We're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world," Biden told NBC host Lester Holt. "This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly."
A Downing Street spokesperson said Prime Minister Boris Johnson feared for the "security of Europe in the current circumstances", as the country urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, CNBC reports.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate
Consumer sentiment fell to a fresh decade low in early February:
U.S. consumer sentiment fell at a much more-than-expected rate in February to a fresh decade low as Americans were concerned over rising inflation.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to 61.7 in early February, falling to its lowest level since Oct. 2011 and dropped from January's reading of 67.2. Moreover, consumer expectations for inflation over the next year rose to 5.0%, marking the highest level since 2008.
"Sentiment continued its downward decent, reaching its worst level in a decade, falling a stunning 8.2% from last month and 19.7% from last February," Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers, said in a press statement. "The recent declines have been driven by weakening personal financial prospects, largely due to rising inflation, less confidence in the government's economic policies, and the least favorable long term economic outlook in a decade."
"The impact of higher inflation on personal finances was spontaneously cited by one-third of all consumers, with nearly half of all consumers expecting declined in their inflation adjusted incomes during the year ahead," he added. "In addition, fewer households cited rising net household wealth since the pandmeic low in May 2020, largely due to the falling likelihood of stock price increases in 2022."
Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.22% or +9.71 points to 4,513.79
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.13% or +47.39 points to 35,288.98
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.31% or +42.64 points to 14,230.07
