Devik Jain and Susan Mathew

(Reuters] – U.S. Stock Index futures dropped on Thursday following reports about clashes between eastern Ukraine and Russia. Investors were also concerned by weekly data on jobless claims, which could provide insight into a possible labor market recovery.

Earnings-related losses also affected chipmaker Nvidia, NASDAQ:. Premarket trading saw Nvidia slide 3.4% as its gross margins were flat and concerns about crypto markets overshadowed the positive current quarter revenue forecast.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ) fell 7.7% after the unexpected fourth-quarter loss of its hotel search site operator.

Russian-backed rebels accused Ukrainian forces of firing missiles at the ceasefire line in Eastern Ukraine. Kyiv claimed that the incident looked like “provocation”, as Russia’s troops are encamped on the border.

After two days of declining, the CBOE Volatility Index, which is also called Wall Street’s Fear Gauge, was re-instated by this news.

“Markets are going to be held captive by the incoming headlines until we have more information. “Tensions are boiling and anything could happen,” stated Marios Hadjikyriacos (senior investment analyst, online broker XM).

While shares in big banks declined, major growth brands such as Apple Inc (NASDAQ) Inc, Alphabet (NASDAQ) Inc, Amazon.com Inc(NASDAQ:), and Google-owner Alphabet were up. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: ) Meta Platforms Inc dropped between 0.1%- 0.8%

At 07:04 am. ET were down 110 points or 0.32% and 17 points or 0.38% respectively. They were also down 0.5% at 73.25.

This week, markets have been volatile due to geopolitical tensions and worries over the Federal Reserve’s plans for tightening this year.

The minutes from January’s Fed meeting showed that policymakers intend to raise interest rates in order to fight inflation. Decisions would be taken meeting by meeting.

At 08:30 am. ET Weekly unemployment claims data should show a decrease to 219 000 from the previous week. The January housing starts data is due.

You may also make earnings-related decisions Albemarle (NYSE) Corp lost 7.9% due to lower annual earnings forecasts by lithium producers despite the higher prices.

Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ) gained 3.3% following an increase in full-year earnings and announcements of $15 billion worth share buybacks.

DoorDash Inc surged 24.9% after it reported upbeat quarterly revenue as food delivery demand showed no sign of slowing, indicating ordering habits have changed permanently.

Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:) rose 4.0% after activist investor Alta Fox Capital Management nominated five directors to the toymaker’s board and urged changes including a spinoff of its unit housing games such as “Dungeons & Dragons”.