U.S. stock futures were muted on the last day of February

U.S. stock futures were muted in extended trading on the last day of the month after another volatile day on Wall Street, as investors weighed intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine and new sanctions imposed on Russia against the likelihood geopolitical uncertainty could knock the Federal Reserve off course for an aggressive first bump in interest rates.

Contracts on Wall Street’s main benchmarks were flat, heading into the overnight session after February’s final trading day marked the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s and S&P 500’s worst start in a long time. The Nasdaq Composite recorded its worst in January and February in more than a decade. 

U.S. stock futures and tensions

As previously mentioned, the situation regarding U.S. stock futures was quite interesting on Monday. 

The Russian Federation’s economy was in the spotlight on Monday after a ramp-up on penalties by the U.S. and its allies rocked its financial system. 

The U.S. and its allies continue to take measures against the Russian Federation. For example, the U.S. barred Americans from conducting business with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, etc. 

Several days earlier, the U.S., European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, U.K., and Canada issued a joint statement. They removed several Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system. 

Interestingly, there is a precedent for removing a country from SWIFT. In 2012, SWIFT unplugged Iranian banks. After the disconnection, the country lost almost half of its oil export revenue and 30% of foreign trade. 

Investors are monitoring other important factors as well. For instance, they are constantly monitoring the Federal Reserve and its plans. The situation regarding inflation raised concerns among market participants that the central bank will raise short-term borrowing costs more aggressively than expected to mitigate increasing prices.