Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — U.S. stock exchanges opened lower on Thursday. This was despite the fact that there were a lot of economic data to support the claim of strong momentum.

At 9:45 am ET (1445 GMT), it was down 88 or 0.3% to 33,975 point. The index was at 0.1%, while the was at 0.2%. The Dow had gained 1.5% on Wednesday, the S&P 2.2% and the Nasdaq 3.8%. 

Markets seemed unable to let go of their obsession with Ukraine’s war. There are reports that Russia is sending more troops from the Far East, Caucasus and Far East. Also, Russia has been shelling Odesa (an important port still under Ukrainian control). On Wednesday, the U.S. announced that it would send $1 billion more military assistance to Ukraine. This includes armed drones. White House earlier stated that Joe Biden, the President of the United States, will speak to Xi Jinping regarding war and other issues. 

The U.S. saw a dramatic rebound in housing starts in February. However, building permits remain at their lowest level for 15 years. Additionally, U.S. manufacturing output grew faster than anticipated in just four months. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing activity index also rose significantly.