US stocks end lower, post weekly losses on Russian-Ukrainian war

US three major stock indexes finished Friday session lower booking weekly losses as Russian-Ukrainian war intensified.

The conflict continues and resulted in a fire at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Russian troops have seized control on the Europe’s biggest nuclear plant.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5% or 180 points to finish at 33,614.8 points. S&P 500 dropped 0.8% or 34.6 points to close at 4328.8 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.7% or 224.5 points to finish at 13,313.4 points.

For the week, the Dow dropped 1.2%, the S&P 500 shed 1.3%, while the Nasdaq booked 2.8% loss.

Meanwhile, commodity prices (oil, natural gas, industrial metals) soared as Russia-Ukraine conflict may cause supply disruptions.

April WTI crude futures jumped 7.4% or %8.01 to settle at $115.68 a barrel, the highest settlement since Sep 2008. For the week, prices rose 26.3% or $24.09, the weekly highest gain on record.

Moreover, May Brent crude climbed 6.9% or $7.65 to end at $118.11 a barrel, the highest finish since Feb 2013. For the week, Brent advanced 25.5%, the biggest weekly percentage gain on record.

Palladium prices on Friday rose above $3,000 per ounce for the first time since May 2021.

It should be noted that Feb nonfarm payrolls jumped 678,000 vs. 440,000 expected. US average hourly earnings rose 1% to $31.58, while unemployment rate was down at 3.8% from 4% in January.