5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday, February 18

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. stock futures were virtually unchanged on Friday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its worst session of the year, falling 622 points, or 1.8%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 2.1% and 2.9% respectively on Thursday. The sell-off in equities on fears over the Russian-Ukrainian situation brought the S&P 500 closer to the correction zone, not down 10% or more from January’s record highs. The Nasdaq continued its correction, down about 15% from its November highs. The Dow is down about 7% from its January highs. All three stock indices declined in the week leading up to Friday’s open.

Growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine left investors confused as it dumped risky assets and switched to seemingly safe bonds on Thursday and Friday. The 10-year Treasury yield, which varies inversely with price, continued to decline to around 1.94%. Watching geopolitical events, traders remain concerned about rising inflation and how the Federal Reserve plans to deal with it. Louis Fed President James Bullard warned that inflation could become an even bigger problem without interest rate hikes. Bullard called for a full interest rate hike by July.

Moscow announced a massive exercise of its nuclear forces on Friday amid rising East-West tensions, with the US issuing some of the sharpest and most detailed warnings about how a Russian invasion of Ukraine could develop. A day earlier, President Joe Biden’s voice sounded unusually grim when he warned that Washington was not seeing signs of a promised Russian troop withdrawal, but instead was seeing an increase in troop concentrations. The US has warned that Russia could use false claims, including allegations of a conflict in eastern Ukraine, as a pretext to invade. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government and Russian state media traded new allegations of violating the ceasefire.

Virgin Galactic said on Friday that venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya would have retired from his roles as chairman and board member of the space company to focus on other corporate commitments. Last year, Palihapitiya confirmed that he had freed up some capital by selling shares in Virgin Galactic. Shares of Virgin Galactic rose slightly in premarket trading but closed down 10% in the previous session. The stock, which Palihapitiya helped list more than two years ago in a SPAC deal, has fallen about 80% in the past 12 months. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic fell to nearly $7 a share a few months after its debut and surged to $62.80 in February 2021.

Roku shares fell more than 25% in premarket trading on Friday, the morning after the video streaming device maker found quarterly revenue fell short of forecasts. It also issued a weaker-than-expected outlook, citing higher component prices and supply chain disruptions. Shares have already fallen 68% over the past 12 months. Roku got an early boost from the pandemic with people stuck at home. But as Covid restrictions have eased, so has the demand for streaming.