Devik Jain, Susan Mathew

(Reuters] – U.S. Stock Index Futures plunged Thursday. The tech-heavy index was expected to confirm bear market, while the Dow is on track to signal a correction. This comes after Russia invades Ukraine.

Global shares fell and oil prices rose above $100 per barrel. Safe havens like gold and government bonds saw a surge in safety. [MKTS/GLOB]

The Ukrainian army fought Russian troops along its border almost entirely with Russia. This was the most serious attack on a European state since World War Two.

Following weeks of ineffective diplomatic attempts, the United States along with its allies threatened tough sanctions against Moscow.

The index may lose 20% if losses continue to trade during regular hours. This is the same as its record November closing high in 2020 when global financial markets were devastated by the coronavirus epidemic.

It was indicated that the blue chip index would confirm a correction to its Jan. 4 all-time high. An index is considered to have closed 10% below its previous record level.

Neil Wilson is Markets.com chief market analyst. He stated, “I don’t believe many investors have faced the combination surging inflation which was last actually seen in early 1980s combined with full scale military operation in Europe. Which again, it was not the last time that occurred was second world war.”

It is a great confidence boost. Many people are still unfamiliar with this territory.

Wall Street’s fear gauge known as the, traded at 36.81 on Jan. 24, its highest trading level since Jan. 24.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:). Citigroup Inc (NYSE:), Wells Fargo (NYSE: Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:), lost over 4% in each premarket trade. Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc dropped 7.7% to lead losses among the mega-cap growth names.

Oil stocks, however, outperformed. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) Chevron Corporation (NYSE:), climbed by 2%, and 3.5%, respectively as fears of a European war threatening global energy supplies increased. [O/R]

7:24 am. ET. Dow eminis dropped 796 points (or 2.4%) and Nasdaq100 e-minis was down 402 points (or 2.98%).

Defense stocks Raytheon Technologies (NYSE 🙂 Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE: ) each gained more than 2.5%

In recent days stocks have been affected by fear of war in East Europe. As a result, the major indexes are on track to experience their worst week since May. They were between 2.8% and 3.8% down as Wednesday closed.

Investors should also keep an eye out for weekly data on jobless claims at 08:30 AM. ET is expected to fall by 235,000 in the week ahead.

EBay Inc fell 8.4% following its first quarter results. The e-commerce platform is trying to address waning demand online, stiff competition, and disruptions in global supply chains.