By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were lower in early APAC deals on Monday, with major benchmark averages retreated last week as hopes diplomacy might resolve the Ukraine crisis faded over the weekend following news that Russian-backed separatists were evacuating residents from breakaway regions in the country's east.
Belarus also noted on Sunday that its war games with Russia will be extended, citing unrest in parts of Eastern Ukraine. Russia had said its troops would return home at the conclusion of the massive drills on Feb. 20. But Russian forces have continued to build up in recent days.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 232.85 points, or 0.7%, at 34,079.18. The S&P 500 lost 0.7% to close at 4,348.87. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 1.2% to 13,548.07. For the week, the Dow fell 1.82%, the S&P 500 fell 1.45% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.59%.
Dow Jones Futures lost 0.21%, S&P 500 Futures were down 0.49% and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.99%.
Among stocks, major technology companies were lower during Friday’s trade. Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) dropped 6.06%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) lost 1.33%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) dipped 0.96%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) fell 0.75%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost 0.94%, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) shed 3.53% and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) retreated 1.61%.
EV makers were mixed as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Lucid Group Inc (NASDAQ:LCID) dropped 2.21% and 5.41% respectively, while Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) gained 2.52%
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 1.934%.
Ahead in the week, market participants will be closely monitoring flash Markit Manufacturing and Services PMIs, as well as key PCE and GDP data. Meantime, earnings are set to continue throughout the week with Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Macy's (NYSE:M), Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW), Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) set to report quarterly results.
U.S. markets will remain closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day public holiday.