Major Wall Street benchmarks were little changed in post-trade trading on Monday as investors continued to weigh the growing threat of Russian military action against Ukraine and the prospect of more rapid monetary tightening from of the Federal Reserve.

Futures related to the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq hovered near the flat line ahead of the overnight session after closing in negative territory on Monday.

Fears that the Kremlin will give the green light to a decision to impose itself on Ukraine as early as this week have created a new headwind for global markets, on fears that the conflict could exacerbate inflation and cause other economic disruption. Growing geopolitical tensions have escalated in recent days, with US officials warning that potential war is possible. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United States was closing its embassy in Kiev and destroying network and computer equipment as a Russian military attack grew increasingly imminent.

“The escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine come at a time when the stock market is already vulnerable given inflation concerns and the potential for Federal Reserve tightening,” Sanders’ chairman said. Morris Harris, George Ball, in a note. “If an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine is somehow averted, a short-lived recovery is likely, but there are still too many worries on the horizon for any kind of movement. more sustainable upside in equities.”

Geopolitical tensions add to the uncertainty surrounding central bank policy that has dominated market sentiment in recent months. Last week, the Department of Labor announced that the consumer price index (CPI) recorded a stronger than expected increase of 7.5% in the year ending January, marking the largest annual leap since 1982.

The surge has intensified calls for the Federal Reserve to intervene more aggressively than expected to rein in soaring prices, even raising the possibility of an emergency hike ahead of the bank’s next policy meeting in March.

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“You have everything planned for the market to go down,” he said, pointing to higher interest rates, sluggish profits and sluggish economic growth around the world. “There is no good reason for this market to increase.”

Comerica Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer John Lynch noted in a note that despite recent volatility in interest rates and equities, sectors of the fixed income markets have shown less turbulence. With corporate credit pressures limited for investment grade and high yield bonds, 10-year equilibrium inflation expectations remain contained.

“We believe it’s important for investors to focus on market signals rather than headlines, while adhering to traditional stock price, interest rate and valuation models,” Lynch said. .

Although earnings season is slowly winding down, investors will be on the lookout this week for another record of corporate earnings to weigh on monetary and geopolitical conditions.

Investors can expect reports from companies such as Walmart (WMT), Marriott International (MAR), ViacomCBS (VIAC) and Airbnb (ABNB) on Tuesday. On the economic front, a new producer price index reading for January and retail sales are expected to be released ahead of the open to serve as another inflation snapshot for the markets.

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6:02 p.m. ET: Futures remain unchanged after Russian-Ukrainian tensions weigh on previous session

Here are the main moves in the markets ahead of Wednesday night trading:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): +3.25 (+0.07%) to 4,397.25

• Dow (^ DJI): +6.00 (+0.02%) to 34,477.00

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): +16.75 (+0.12%) to 14,269.75

• Raw (CL=F): -0.74$ (-0.78%) at 94.72$ per barrel

• Gold (CG=F): +$3.80 (+0.20%) at $1,873.20 per ounce

• 10-year cash flow (^TNX): +4.1 bps for a yield of 1.9960%

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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

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