NEW YORK, March 11 — Major US indices rose at the start of trading today as investors were cheered by hopes of renewed negotiation between Russia and Ukraine to end their war, which has roiled markets.
Before markets opened, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there were some “positive shifts” in talks between the countries two weeks into Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, adding that negotiations are “now being held on an almost daily basis.”
“It doesn’t take very much good news, even if it’s incremental, to shift sentiment pretty quickly, and I think that’s what we’re seeing here today,” Art Hogan of National Securities said.
About 25 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8 per cent at 33,430.45.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 4,277.92 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2 per cent to 13,149.27.
Facebook parent Meta was down 3.1 per cent after it said it would temporarily ease its policy on violent speech in response to the invasion of Ukraine, and allow statements like “death to Russian invaders” but not credible threats against civilians.
Electric automaker Rivian was down 1.5 per cent after losing as much as 15 per cent on Thursday following its announcement that it would produce fewer cars than expected.
Markets are bracing for next week, when the Federal Reserve will convene its two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday and almost certainly raise interest rates from zero for the first time since the pandemic began. — AFP
