S&P500
The US market plunged on the Fed's negative comments and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The major US indices fell on Wednesday: the Dow Jones declined by 0.4%, the NASDAQ lost 2.2%, the S&P500 went down 1%.
As indicated above, the NASDAQ declined dramatically for the second day in a row.
The S&P500 is trading at 4,481. It remains in the range of 4,440 - 4,520.
The Fed minutes were the main reason why the US market fell on Wednesday. The minutes indicated that the Fed could raise the interest rate by 0.5% or presumably by 0.25% to fight soaring inflation reaching 7.5%. However, the major woe is that the Fed is determined to reduce its balance sheet at a rapid pace by $95 billion a month to fight inflation. It is considered a substantial reduction in the money supply. The US market declined. However, the 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 2.6%.
Energy. Both oil prices and the US market fell for two successive days. Brent crude oil has bottomed out the local range of $105-110. It was trading at $102.90 in the morning.
Nevertheless, the Russian ruble continued to strengthen significantly. On Thursday morning, the dollar was trading at 79.60, while the euro was trading at 87.00 on the MICEX exchange. I believe the ruble has been strengthened artificially due to exporters' liability to sell 80% of the currency on the exchange and panic of many importers running their business after the West imposed sanctions against Russia over the past month. At the same time, Russian authorities said they were going to fight against private currency exchanges.
Russia-Ukraine conflict:
Russia has launched an offensive in the Donbass region.
The Russian troops have left the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.
Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Viktor Orban, Putin's ally, tried to call for a cease-fire yesterday. However, the Kremlin said that Kyiv must first accept Moscow's terms.