Wall Street Sees Red

Russian missile attacks are continuing across Ukraine, especially targeting infrastructure and energy centers. The missile attacks reportedly killed at least two people in central Ukraine. Kharkiv region is said to be hit by S300 missiles ten times.

Raising questions about the future, Twitter has banned accounts of high-profile media persons in the U.S.

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower on Friday.

Asian shares closed mostly lower, while European shares are trading in negative territory.

As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 322.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were down 38.25 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 69.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished firmly negative on Thursday. The Dow tumbled 764.13 points or 2.3 percent to 33,202.22, the Nasdaq plunged 360.36 points or 3.2 percent to 10,810.53, and the S&P 500 dove 99.57 points or 2.5 percent to 3,895.75.

On the economic front, the Flash Composite Purchasing Manager’s Index or PMI for December will be released at 9.45 am ET. The manufacturing index consensus is 47.8, and the services index consensus is 46.5.

The Baker Hughes Rig Count for the week will be announced at 1.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the North American rig count was 982 and the U.S. rig count was 780.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will participate in a virtual conversation, Inflation, the Economy, and the Federal Reserve hosted by the American Enterprise Institute at 12.00 pm ET.

Asian markets traded lower on Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.02 percent to 3167.86. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 63 points or 0.56 percent to close at 11,295.03.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange added 82 points or 0.42 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 19,450.67. The day’s trading range was between a high of 19,621.13 and a low of 19,130.53.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 525 points or 1.87 percent to end trading at 27,527.12.

Australia’s S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 7,148.70 after losing 56 points or 0.78 percent.

European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is down 77.37 points or 1.19 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 116.54 points or 0.83 percent. FTSE 100 of England is sliding 87.36 points or 1.18 percent. The Swiss Market Index is down 72.11 points or 0.65 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.91 percent.

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