- US stocks gained on Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country has made "progress" talking with Ukraine.
- Despite potential progress with negotiations, Ukraine is still facing an ever growing onslaught from Russia.
- The comments from Putin led to a decline in commodity prices that have been impacted by the invasion.
US stocks edged higher on Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said negotiations with Ukraine have made "progress" and are seeing "certain positive shifts."
The surge in stock prices following Putin's comments highlights how closely investors are watching the situation between Russia and Ukraine, which has roiled commodity markets and led to concerns of persistent inflation. Wheat and gold prices traded lower Friday morning.
Despite the positive comments from Putin, Ukraine is still facing an ever growing onslaught from Russia that has shown no signs of slowing.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,288.32, up 0.68%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,466.96, up 0.88% (292.89 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,215.38, up 0.65%
More and more companies are exiting Russia and writing down their assets to $0, highlighting the heavy losses experienced by some multinational companies. Investment giant BlackRock said it is facing losses of over $17 billion on its holdings of Russian assets.
One commodity that is starting to see a surge in prices is uranium, which hit their highest level since the 2011 Fukushima disaster as President Joe Biden weighs sanctions on a Russian supplier of the metal used in nuclear power plants.
Despite the heightened volatility in the stock market amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, economists at ING still expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates next week.
"With the economy growing strongly, creating jobs in significant numbers and experiencing the fastest rate of price inflation in 40 years, not even the uncertainty and financial market volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will deter the Fed from hiking on Wednesday," ING said.
Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian plunged 9% to a record low after its fourth-quarter earnings revealed 2022 delivery guidance of just 25,000 despite it having capacity to build 50,000 vehicles. The company blamed supply chain disruptions for the shortfall.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as much as 0.53% to $106.37 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rallied as much as 0.49% to $109.87.
Bitcoin rose 2.11% to $39,327. Ether prices gained 3.19% to $2,624.
Gold fell as much as 1.55% to $1,969.30 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added 2 basis points to 2.0%.