NEW YORK (Reuters) - World shares slid, pressured by uncertainty about the conflict in Ukraine and expectations the Federal Reserve will hike U.S. interest rates next week.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell, weighed down by tech and growth stocks. Oil prices settled up for the day but down for the week in volatile trading.
The U.S. announced a ban on imports of Russian seafood, diamonds and made it harder for Russia to access funds from the International Monetary Fund, as Washington and its allies ramped up sanctions.
Financial markets have swung wildly during the war in Ukraine, now in its third week, as investors also braced for central banks to tighten monetary policy to tame inflation just as the global economy begins to slow. U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early March by more than expected on inflation concerns, according to a report, while data released Thursday showed consumer prices in February notched their largest annual increase in 40 years.
Next week, the Fed is expected to begin raising interest rates, and the Bank of England is expected to continue its rate-hikes, especially after January’s economic growth numbers from the UK came in stronger than expected.
Around 9.50 pm GMT, MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was down 1.15 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 229.88 points, or 0.69 percent, to 32,944.19, the S&P 500 lost 55.21 points, or 1.30 percent, to 4,204.31 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 286.15 points, or 2.18 percent, to 12,843.81.
Investors may be put off by how statistically expensive the S&P 500 is, according to analysts at Bank of America. The benchmark U.S. equity index is statistically expensive on 14 of 20 measures. Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index closed 1 percent up, making this the first weekly gain after three consecutive weeks of losses.
Emerging market stocks lost 1.55 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.67 percent lower, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.05 percent.
Oil futures have soared since Russia-Ukraine crisis, hitting their highest levels since 2008 during the week and pulling back sharply as more supply looked to come online.
Brent crude futures settled up 3.05 percent at $112.67 a barrel, and U.S. crude settled up 3.12 percent at $109.33. The dollar rose, notching a five-year high against the safe-haven yen, while commodity-linked currencies slumped.