Traders gasp for breath after day of twists shakes big tech, oil

Seeking to make sense of the reversal, strategists cite everything from a less-aggressive outlook for U.S. monetary tightening and an upcoming release of strategic petroleum reserves to more attractive cross-asset valuations.

Traders booted up their terminals at the U.S. open to find risk assets in familiar selloff mode as the Ukraine invasion sent the Nasdaq 100 into a bear market. 

Just hours later, dip buyers -- unexpectedly -- emerged across Wall Street to spur a rally in major indexes while oil prices reversed gains. 

The Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 21 per cent below its November high -- more than enough for an official bear market -- before reversing to end the day to close up 3.4 per cent, the most in 11 months. Brent oil jumped as high as US$105.79 a barrel in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion, and West Texas Intermediate crude topped US$100. The benchmarks ended the day at US$99.08 and US$92.81, respectively.

Seeking to make sense of the reversal, strategists cite everything from a less-aggressive outlook for U.S. monetary tightening and an upcoming release of strategic petroleum reserves to more attractive cross-asset valuations.

“Stocks don’t always move in the way we expect them to,” Callie Cox, eToro U.S. investment analyst, said on Bloomberg’s “QuickTake Stock” broadcast. “We’re sitting here processing these headlines and trying to understand what they mean for the global economy, but first and foremost, fear is a contrarian indicator. While we’re all rightfully fearful right now, some investors may be seeing this as a time to jump back in.”