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<\/p>\nShares plunged Thursday ahead of the open as geopolitical conflict deepened with Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, dampening investor sentiment. Execs from Discovery touched on it in a conference call with analysts following earnings this morning.<\/p>\n
Dow Futures are currently down 830 points or 2.5%. Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 are off by, respectively, 3.25%, 2.59%, 2.58% as Wall Streeters wonder if this is short sharp downturn created by uncertainty or a longer slough with ongoing economic fallout from sanctions and higher oil prices — which moved higher again today.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is already in the grip of the highest inflation in decades, which has spurred the Fed anticipate a series of interest rate hikes this year that has also made markets jittery.<\/p>\n
The red ink is spread across the board, with the exception of oil companies (at least ones that don’t have interests in the region). Discovery is down 4.3%, Disney is down by 4.2%, Paramount 3.7% and Netflix 3.2%.<\/p>\n
Discovery is highly international. Asked about the conflict on a call this morning, Discovery execs said business in the region impacted — the Ukraine and Russia — is “immaterial” – making up about 1% of profits. International chief JB Perrette said the company hasn’t yet seen an impact but “will continue to track” any fallout on Discovery’s larger European footprint including Poland and Eastern Europe — markets most likely to be affected.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden condemned “this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces” in a tweet and is expected to unveil harsher sanctions following an initial round announced several days ago.<\/p>\n
European stocks set the tone, plunging across the board. The UK’s FTSE 100 is down 3.3%, France’s CAC 40 4.6%, Germany’s DAX is down 5% and the Milan stock market by 5.5% German and Italy are particularly exposed to the economic impact of war and sanctions. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 is down almost 6%.<\/p>\n
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