Financial stocks hammer Wall Street as Ukraine crisis escalates By Reuters

By Devik Jain and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

(Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes slumped on Tuesday with financial stocks bearing the brunt for a second straight day as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened, while a surge in oil prices boosted shares of energy companies.

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors declined, with financials tumbling 3.8% and tracking its biggest daily percentage decline since June 2020.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:) lost 5.1%, while the broader banks index slid 4.9% as slumped to five-week lows amid a flight to safe-haven debt. [US/]

However, the energy sector outperformed with a 0.4% gain as oil jumped back above $100 a barrel. [O/R]

Chevron Corp (NYSE:) climbed 2.7% to hit a record high after the oil major also raised its share buyback program and forecast for operating cash-flow through 2026.

Russia rained rockets down on Kharkiv and warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes as a Russian armoured column bore down on Ukraine’s capital city on the sixth day of assault on its western neighbour.

The conflict has drawn sharp reprisals from the West including the blocking of certain Russian lenders’ access to the SWIFT international payment system.

“The longer this conflict lingers the worse the fighting is going to get, and that can’t possibly be good for equities,” said David Petrosinelli, senior trader at InspereX in New York.

“Stocks are very vulnerable even from the levels they’re at right now and it’s largely because of what’s going on in Ukraine and to a lesser degree the disruption that’s going to come through with oil.”

At 12:03 p.m. ET, the was down 693.60 points, or 2.05%, at 33,199.00, the was down 73.19 points, or 1.67%, at 4,300.75, and the was down 206.35 points, or 1.50%, at 13,545.05.

On a bright spot, data showed U.S. manufacturing activity picked up more than expected in February as COVID-19 infections subsided, while construction spending surged in January.

“Given the fact that the U.S. economy is accelerating, the uncertainty will be relatively short lived and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the market found its footing, sometime over the next couple of weeks when clarity is restored,” said Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments.

Target Corp (NYSE:) jumped 11.2% after the big-box retailer forecast 2022 sales and profit above analysts’ expectations.

Defense stocks such as Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:) rose, building on a sharp rally in the previous session. Shares of mega-cap growth names including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) were down over 1% each.

The CBOE volatility index, also known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, was last trading at 33.93, its highest level since Feb. 24.

Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:) Inc slid 5.6% after it forecast downbeat full-year revenue and profit, signaling a hit from tough competition and lower sign-ups for its core Meetings platform.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.64-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.91-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs and 101 new lows.