S&P 500 struggles at 4400 and retraces towards 4380 amid a downbeat market mood

• The S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded losses in a risk-off market mood as fighting increased in  Eastern Europe.
• Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said that peace talks are dead-end, and if Russia destroys the remaining troops in Mariupol, it will end talks.
• Gold, the greenback, and US Treasuries are rising amidst a hawkish Fed.

After a longer than usual weekend, US equities opened on Monday with losses, reflecting the market mood amid concerns that the Fed would hike rates aggressively and high US Treasury yields. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are falling between 0.19% and 0.24%, each sitting at 4382.60, 34,368.09, and 13,866.27, respectively.

The market sentiment is downbeat, amid the escalation of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said peace talks with Russia are at a “dead end” because Ukraine will not trade its territory and people. Furthermore, he warned that if Russian forces followed through on a threat to destroy the remaining Ukrainian troops fighting in Mariupol, it would “put an end” to talks and said they could fight with Russia for ten years.

Regarding stock specifics, highlights came from Twitter (TWTR), which is rising by 0.2%, and shareholders adopted a “poison pill” to protect themselves from a hostile takeover by Elon Musk. In the meantime, the greenback remains in the driver’s seat, as depicted by the US Dollar Index, rising 0.17%, sitting at 100.672, while US Treasury yields, led by the 10-year benchmark note, edge up two and a half basis points, up to 2.851%.

In terms of sector specifics, the main gainers are Energy, up 1.2%, propelled by high oil prices, followed by Financials and Materials, each recording gains of 0.26% and 0.24%, respectively. Contrarily, Health, Industrials, and Consumer Staples are down 0.92%, 0.556% and 0.51%, each.

In the commodities complex, the US crude oil benchmark, WTI, is gaining 0.68%, trading at $107.13 BPD, while precious metals like gold (XAU/USD) are rising 0.75%, exchanging hands at $1987.90 a troy ounce, boosted as a hedge against inflation and slower growth.

Technical levels to watch