Russia's invasion of Ukraine has roiled financial markets around the world

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has roiled¹ financial markets around the world

Transcript²

Stock prices are lower and energy prices are higher, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. stock market opened sharply lower, while crude oil prices topped $100 a barrel.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has roiled financial markets around the world and sent energy prices soaring. The U.S. stock market opened sharply lower this morning. Crude oil prices topped $100 a barrel. NPR's economics correspondent, Scott Horsley, joins us now. Good morning, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: How bad is the sell-off on Wall Street?

HORSLEY: All the major indexes are down. The Dow tumbled around 800 points in the first few minutes of trading. And of course, that just adds to the losses of recent days that came in anticipation⁴ of this move by Russia. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 index are now in correction territory, meaning they're down more than 10% from their recent highs. And as of this morning, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index has slipped into bear market territory, meaning it's down 20% from its recent high. Overseas markets were also sharply lower overnight. Asian stocks fell in the 2% to 3% range, and Russia's own markets were rattled⁵. The Russian currency dropped about 5% against the dollar.

MARTIN: Where are we going to see the toughest hit on the economy because of this?

HORSLEY: Well, the first place to look is in those energy markets. Of course, Russia is a major exporter of both oil and natural gas, and the possibilities that supplies could be disrupted has sent prices sharply higher. Natural gas prices in Europe, which relies heavily on natural gas from Russia for both heating and electricity, were up a lot. Crude oil prices, as you mentioned, topped $105 a barrel at the global markets. They were close to $100 a barrel here in the U.S. All of that's going to translate into higher prices at the gas pump, where consumers in this country were already paying an average of $3.54 a gallon. We've also seen a jump in grain prices. Both Russia and Ukraine are both wheat producers, so corn and wheat prices have been going up. That could affect prices at the grocery store. And of course, Rachel, food and fuel prices were already pushing inflation to its highest level in four decades.

MARTIN: Right. So the U.S. was already, you know, climbing out of the pandemic recession into this fragile recovery. Is that now going to stall?

HORSLEY: It probably won't stall the recovery, but this may slow it down a bit. We did get news from the Commerce Department this morning that the economy grew even faster at the end of last year than initially⁶ reported. So the U.S. came into 2022 with a lot of economic momentum⁷. This conflict in Ukraine, it - probably not going to derail that recovery, but it's another wrinkle. If it both slows growth and raises inflation, it complicates⁸ things for the Federal Reserve. Listening to Fed officials over the last few days, though, it doesn't sound as this is going to change the central bank's plan to start raising interest rates next month in an effort to get control over prices. And we should add, while rising gasoline prices are certainly a hardship for drivers in the U.S, they are a potential windfall for U.S. energy producers. We're already seeing an uptick in investment in the oil patch, and, remember, the U.S. is the No. 1 producer of both oil and natural gas.

MARTIN: Scott, what about the sanctions that the U.S. and NATO allies are imposing⁹ on Russia? Are those going to carry a big price tag for the U.S. economy?

HORSLEY: Not a big price tag. If, as threatened, the U.S. limits exports of certain high-tech¹⁰ goods to Russia, that could have some consequences but not huge consequences. Russia's a pretty small economy, and it's certainly not a big trading partner for the U.S. It's a bigger trading partner for Europe. One thing to be wary¹¹ of, though, we've already seen Russia using cyberweapons against Ukraine. And if it were to train those cyberweapons on the U.S. in retaliation¹² for sanctions, that could have some economic effects here. So cybersecurity is more important than ever.

MARTIN: NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley with the economic impact of Russia's invasion into Ukraine. Scott, thank you. We appreciate it.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF SOHO'S "FLO-FI")

1 roiled   

v.搅混（液体）( roil的过去式和过去分词 )；使烦恼；使不安；使生气

参考例句：

• American society is being roiled by the controversy over homosexual marriage. 当今美国社会正被有关同性恋婚姻的争论搞得不得安宁。 来自互联网
• In the past few months, instability has roiled Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas. 在过去的几个月里，西藏和藏人居住区不稳定。 来自互联网

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

9 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

10 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

11 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

12 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》