By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were trading slightly higher in early APAC deals on Friday, with major benchmark averages finishing Thursday’s regular session deep in the red as investors continue monitoring ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the U.S. said Russia was on the brink of invading Ukraine within several days, while Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the UN, said in a tweet that “the evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving towards an imminent invasion.”
On Thursday, the Dow dropped 622.24 points or 1.78% to 34312.04, the biggest daily drop since end of November. The S&P 500 dropped 94.76 points 2.12% to 4380.26, breaking a two-day winning streak, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 407.38 points or 2.88% 13716.72.
Dow Jones Futures added 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures were up 0.11% and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.13%.
Among stocks, Technology suffered sharp declines, with Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) down 4.57%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) dipping 2.18%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) 2.93%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) down 2.08%, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropping 2.77% and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) falling 2.87%. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) also slumped 7.56% after reporting results that failed to impress investors.
Major financials were sharply lower, as JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) lost 2.3%, Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE:CFG) dipped 3.87%, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) lost 3.38%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) fell 3.35%.
Among other reporting companies, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) gained 4.01%, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 2.8% and Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) lost after issuing results.
In extended deals, Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) dropped 20.88% after Q4 revenues missed analyst’s expectations. Dropbox Inc (NASDAQ:DBX) also dipped 2.46% after-hours despite posting a better-than-expected quarterly report.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year yields were at 1.975%.
Market participants also digested fresh economic data, with initial jobless claims unexpectedly rising, while housing starts fell much more than expected.