Liz Moyer and Peter Nurse

Investing.com — U.S. stocks plunged Monday afternoon following statements by Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve Chair) that the central bank can raise interest rates quicker and take more steps to curb inflation.

Stocks closed last week in record territory despite the fact that investors were keeping an eye on developments in Ukraine, and the Fed speaker series, just days after tightening began.

At 12:47 ET the had fallen 344 points or 1% and was falling 0.6% and 1.2% respectively.

Wall Street’s three main indexes notched up last week their largest weekly percentage gains since early November 2020 with the Dow climbing 5.5%, the S&P adding 6.2% and the Nasdaq rising 8.2%.

The central bank announced on Wednesday that it had given its first rate increase since 2018, and also gave an optimistic assessment of America’s economy. It is expected that this will be the first in a string of rate hikes. The central bank also indicated it would likely increase at six of its six remaining meetings this year.

Powell made the remarks at the National Association of Business Economists conference. He said that Fed rates could be moved in half-point steps, instead of the traditional quarter-point movement. It set traders abuzz, implying that an aggressive approach was being taken to inflation.

Anxious about stubbornly high prices for commodities and little sign of an end to conflict in Eastern Europe, the Fed will likely be the focus of investors.

According to a Kremlin spokesperson, peace negotiations have not advanced enough to allow for the meeting of the Russian president and Ukrainian President. The Russians demanded that Ukraine surrender its military and seize control of the besieged port at Mariupol. 

While the economic data slate was largely unfilled Monday, reports will continue to be available for orders, both and for the whole week.

News from corporate: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE 🙂 earlier Monday announced that it would purchase Alleghany Corporation(NYSE 🙂 in an allcash transaction valued at $11.6billion.

A Boeing (NYSE 🙂 737 plane crashed, but not one of its MAX aircrafts operated by China Eastern Airlines. This caused the deaths of 132 people. Boeing shares dropped 4%, which helped to weigh on the Dow.

Nike (NYSE:) is scheduled to release after the close Monday, and the sportswear giant’s sales could suffer from the powerful cocktail of rising Covid-19 cases in China, the Russia-Ukraine crisis and lingering supply issues.

As sanctions imposed on Moscow by the United States for their invasion, but not enough to convince Vladimir Putin to halt the fighting, oil prices rose Monday.

The EU is dependent on Russia 40% for its natural gas. Germany, the biggest economy in the bloc, would find it difficult to make this choice economically.

At 1:49 AM ET futures had traded at $108.94/barrel, 5.7% more than the previous day, and contract prices rose 6.5%, to $114.91.

The price rose 0.1%, to $1,932/oz.

Original publication at 7 AM ET. Updated.