It was another volatile week with US stocks ending lower as investors continued to weigh developments in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The major US equity indexes closed mostly higher after a week of historic volatility sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US equity large-cap indexes suffered their 2nd consecutive week of declines as high inflation and worries over a Russian invasion of Ukraine weighed on sentiment.

It was another volatile week for risk assets. US large-cap equity indexes ended the week lower with the Nasdaq faring worse. Healthy earnings growth was offset by fears over monetary tightening.

Equity markets remained volatile but recorded overall gains for the second consecutive week. It was one of the busiest weeks of the Q4 earnings reporting season, with 112 companies in the S&P 500 Index scheduled to report results.

Late gains helped the US main stock benchmarks to close in positive territory for the week after they briefly hit correction territory (down more than 10% from recent highs). The small-cap Russell 2000 Index lagged and ended the week down nearly 20% from its November peak, leaving it just outside of a bear market.

Rising interest rate fears and growth worries pushed the S&P 500 Index to its biggest decline since October 2020. US small caps and the Nasdaq declined the most.

Inflation and rate worries weighed on US equity large-caps indices as earnings season begins. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its third consecutive weekly loss.

The S&P 500 reached a new high on Monday but then backed away as longer-term bond yields increased. Sentiment took a notable turn for the worse on Wednesday afternoon following the release of Fed minutes.

What a year! Global covid cases at record high, US inflation at 39 year high and the fed on track to raise rates by 6 times in the next 2 years.