The stock markets in the United States declined except NASDAQ due to reports that Ukraine’s troops attacked an armed convoy the crossed its border from Russia.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko confirmed the news regarding the incident in a statement on his website. “The president informed that the given information was trustworthy and confirmed because the majority of the machines had been eliminated by Ukrainian artillery at night,” according to the statement.
On the other hand, Foreign Ministry of Russia stated that Ukraine is attempting to interrupt the convoy of more than 260 trucks containing food and other aids for civilians affected by the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Russia demanded ceasefire to be able to deliver the aid.
According to Andriy Lysenko, the spokesperson for the military of Ukraine said border guards and customs officials were sent to the Russian border to inspect the trucks. They are still waiting for proper documentation from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Commenting on the situation, Adam Hewison, president and CEO of INO.com said, “While we’ve had a lot of negativities hit the market lately, I don’t think it has really sunk in for the long-term yet.” He added, “It’s like a never-ending story with Russia and Ukraine – you don’t know what to believe, but the reality is that it’s an ongoing problem and that it’s a question of when investors decide to say, ‘Enough is enough, I’m going to cash in.”
On the other hand, Stephen Carl, the principal and head equity trader at Williams Capital Group told Bloomberg, “Investors are trying to weed through what exactly is going on in Ukraine, and the market is drifting back. We have a geopolitical situation that needs to be addressed, and that’s overshadowing everything else in the market.”
U.S. Markets
• Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)- 16,662.91 (-0.30%)
• S&P 500- 1,955.06 (-0.01%)
• NASDAQ- 4,464.93 (+0.27%)
• Russell 2000- 1,141.64 (-0.15 %)
European Markets
• EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,033.52 (-0.81%)
• FTSE 100 Index- 6,689.08 (+0.06%)
• Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,092.60 (-1.44%)
Asia-Pacific Markets
• Nikkei 225- 15.314.57 (+0.66%)
• Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 24,801.36 (-0.36%)
• Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 2,335.95 (-0.97%)
Stocks in Focus
The stock price of Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) surged more than 30% to $93.49 per share. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) agreed to acquire 16.7% stake in Monster for $2.15 billion as part of their long-term strategic partnership.
The companies also agreed to a business swap wherein Coca-Cola would transfer its worldwide energy business to Monster. On the other hand, Monster would transfer its non-energy business to Coca-Cola.
The shares of Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) dropped more than 5% to $65.11 per share after the company’s same-store sales were below the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts. The Luxury department store chain in the United States posted $0.95 in earnings per share on $3.3 billion in revenue. Analysts expected the company to deliver earnings of $0.94 per share and revenue of $3.39 billion.
SUPERVALU INC. (NASDAQ:SVU) declined nearly 3% after the company revealed a data breach on its computer network that processes payment transactions in some of its retail food stores. The company said there is an ongoing investigation to determine the nature and scope of the intrusion.
