April 25th 2014 – Stocks Knocked By Ukraine Tensions

Market View:

So the data is good, the earnings are good, but the market is down.  As long as there are conflicts that threaten the economy they will always trump any good news.  Fortunately this conflict between Russia and the West will end soon as all others have.  Simply because it has too.  I don’t want to get political, so I’ll stop here…let’s assume that assuming Mr. Putin will help ease tensions with a calming statement or two over the weekend.

Market News:

U.S. stocks declined today, with equities sliding into the loss column for the week, as investors tracked escalating tension in Ukraine, with the geopolitical strife overshadowing upbeat results from Microsoft.

Ford Motor fell after the auto manufacturer reported earnings below expectations; Amazon.com declined after forecasting a loss in the current quarter; Starbucks gained after its full-year outlook topped estimates, and Microsoft rose after tallying a quarterly profit that beat estimates.

Ukrainian forces reportedly killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels as Russian troops resumed military drills along that nation’s border with Ukraine.

Russian stocks were slammed, including software company Yandex, down 17 percent.

President Barack Obama on Friday was expected to call European leaders to talk about sanctions, a day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Russian economy would be targeted so long as tensions in Ukraine continued.

Stocks offered little reaction after the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index hit 84.1 in April, better than estimated.

Separately, financial data firm Markit’s gauge of the services sector showed expansion slowed in April from the prior month.

News Sources:  CNBC and CNN Money