Late Equity Roundup: Early Positivity Evaporates

Risk appetite surged ahead the NY open on positive sounding headlines from leaders on both sides of the Russia/Ukraine war.

• Russia Pres Putin headlines re: "positive shifts" in Ukraine talks, followed by Reuters headline citing Ukraine Pres Zelensky that "Ukraine has reached a strategic turning point in war". Markets, eager for a reversal and hopes of a peace accord between Russia/Ukraine, reacted positively with stocks gapping higher (ESM2 to 4325.75), 30Y Bonds lead gap sale to 154-25 in USM2 -- and traded down to 154-18 by midmorning on nothing in particular.
• Late morning rebuttal by Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Bbg as he said there was "zero progress" in peace talks saw early risk-on tone reverse. While bonds held mixed, inside range levels, stocks slipped to session lows: modestly weaker by the FI close: SPX eminis -25.0 at 4223.0 -- well above key support of 4094.25 Low Feb 24 and a bear trigger.
• SPX leading/lagging sectors: Materials sector outperformed +.2% followed by Utilities (-0.10%) and Financials (-0.24%) -- well off earlier gains. Laggers: Communication Services sector sagged: Netflix (NFLX) -3.81% to 343.19 (-$13.58), while Discovery Comm (DSCA) slipped -3.11% to 24.30 after 4th largest debt on record of $30B issued for ATT/Discover deal this week.
• Dow leaders/Laggers: McDonalds (MCD) extended gains +5.81 at 227.81 after suspending operations in Russia; upgraded earlier this week: Caterpillar (CAT) +4.48 to 216.27 as it suspends Russia ops as well.