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Despite a solid February jobs report, the stock market fell once again Friday—with the Dow losing 200 points to close its fourth straight week of losses—as surging oil prices neared $120 per barrel amid the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
A strong jobs report wasn’t enough to save stocks from another Russia-Ukraine induced sell-off.
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Stocks ended the week on a down note: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, nearly 200 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 1.7%.
Oil prices, which have skyrocketed in recent weeks, jumped yet again on Friday: US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose to over $115 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude rose to nearly $119 per barrel.
Markets failed to rally despite a strong jobs report on Friday morning, in which the US economy added back 678,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%.
Stocks fell amid news that Russian troops attacked and seized Ukraine’s nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, one of the largest in Europe, with reports of a fire breaking out during the fighting.
US officials condemned the Russian attack on the power plant as “madness,” calling the intentional targeting of civilians and the plant a “war crime” that nearly caused a “nuclear catastrophe.”
Surging aerospace and defense stocks, meanwhile, marched higher Friday as the US government and its allies continue to ship weapons to Ukraine: Shares of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have risen roughly 20% each since Russia invaded Ukraine just over a week ago.