By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com – Stocks fell on Wednesday on the prospect of more sanctions by the West on Russia and higher oil prices.
President Joe Biden headed to Brussels for a meeting with members of the G-7 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the situation in Ukraine as Russia continued its attack.
The White House and Allies are preparing to unveil additional sanctions, including on members of Russia’s parliament. Oil returned to near $120 a barrel, stoking concerns higher fuel prices would sap the economic recovery just as the Federal Reserve starts to rein in its stimulus programs.
Already food and other household items are more expensive, and some states have suspended their own tax on gasoline to ease prices at the pump for American drivers.
More Fed officials spoke this week about the need to raise interest rates more aggressively, fanning expectations the central bank will make two half-point hikes at its next two meetings. The Fed normally raises rates in quarter-point increments, as it did last week for the first time since it began its pandemic-era stimulus.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Meme stocks
The meme stock crowd appears to be coming to life lately. Shares of GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) jumped Wednesday after chairman Ryan Cohen increased his stake, buying another 100,000 shares.
The purchase takes Cohen's slice of the video game retailer to 11.9% as he tries to pivot the company in light of a changing market. The gain in GameStop stock adds to a nearly 30% rally during Tuesday's session.
Cohen, who co-founded pet retailer Chewy (NYSE:CHWY), acquired the shares through his investment company RC Ventures and paid between $96.81 and $108.82 for the stake, according to a filing.
2. Home builders
KB Home (NYSE:KBH) shares dropped 5.7% in extended trading, adding to the regular session's 4.6% loss after the company reported earnings that missed expectations.
The homebuilding company announced earnings per share of $1.47 on revenue of $1.4 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $1.54 on revenue of $1.5 billion. The company said supply chain issues intensified and an already-constrained construction labor force was further stressed, which extended build times and delayed completions and planned deliveries.
3. Oil prices
Oil is bouncing back above $120 a barrel after U.S. government data showed weekly consumption far beyond market estimates, while major producer Russia continued to cite outages on the Caspian pipeline that played on the nerves of traders.
U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, benchmark is up about 9% on the week.
--Investing.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report