Opening Bell: Dip-Buying Boosts Futures, European Stocks; Oil Slips; Bitcoin Up

 | Mar 09, 2022 08:05AM ET

  • Oil retreats after Biden's ban on Russian imports
  • Bitcoin soars on leaked Presidential comments
  • Dollar rally halts ahead of Fed
  • h2 Key Events/h2

    US futures on the Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Russell 2000 rebounded in trading ahead of the New York open on Wednesday, and European shares soared—the result of aggressive dip-buying. Bullish investors are betting that the economic fallout from the conflict in Ukraine is already priced in.

    Bitcoin jumped.

    h2 Global Financial Affairs/h2

    Futures contracts on the four major US indices rallied over 1.5% today after US markets hit nine-month lows on Tuesday during the Wall Street session, with contracts on the NASDAQ leading the way.

    In Europe, the STOXX 600 Index opened almost 1% higher and extended gains by as much as 3%, ending three days of losses totaling 6.5%. Shares of car manufacturers and financials outperformed.

    Asian benchmarks were mixed with Australia's ASX 200, the only regional index in the green, driven by banks and the technology sector. 

    China's CSI 300 uncharacteristically suffered a significant loss, declining 0.92% as mounting COVID cases in that country are adding to concerns of rising inflation due to increasing commodity prices. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 came within 0.59% of a bear market, as the country's economy relies heavily on oil imports. The price of the energy commodity has been skyrocketing due to the conflict in Ukraine.

    US stocks ended Tuesday's volatile session lower. The S&P 500 climbed as much as 1.8% during trading, but a slump in the session's final three hours dragged the benchmark 0.73% lower.

    Consumer staples led the decliners, falling 2.7%.