Stock futures plunge
U.S. stock futures were deep in the red on Monday amid worries that diplomatic efforts will fail to prevent an imminent war between Russian and Ukraine.
Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine. President Joe Biden spoke with Vladimir Putin of Russia over the weekend after the White House claimed to have intelligence that Russia plans to invade Ukraine within days.
Biden warned that Washington and its allies would respond decisively and impose swift and severe sanctions if Russia launches an invasion of Ukraine.
As of 5:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow plummeted 332 points, or 0.96% to 34,295. S&P 500 futures shed 47.75 points, or 1.08% to 4,361.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 177.75 points, or 1.25% to 14,062.75.
Crude futures near $100 on Russia-Ukraine tensions
On the commodities front, crude futures moved closer to $100 a barrel early Monday on growing geopolitical tensions over fears Russia could invade Ukraine within days.
The prospect of an invasion has pushed crude prices higher as traders calculate that new U.S. and European sanctions on Russia will cause significant disruption in Russian fossil fuel exports.
Russia also is a major supplier of other commodities, including wheat, which analysts believe could push prices higher in the event of a war.
As of writing, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $93.17 a barrel while global Brent crude futures were at $94.43 a barrel.
Splunk up on Cisco takeover rumors
Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK)’s stock surged 7% before the opening bell Monday as rumors swirled about potential takeover bid from network gear maker Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO).
The surge comes after The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that Splunk has received a takeover offer worth more than $20 billion from Cisco.
People familiar with the matter to the publication that the offer was made recently and the companies are not in active discussions.
According the Journal, that would be the largest buyout ever for acquisition-friendly Cisco, surpassing its $7 billion takeover of Scientific Atlanta in 2005 and the $5 billion it paid to acquire Acacia Communications in 2021.
Splunk shares were up $8.84, or 7.72% to $123.35 pre-market. Cisco was unchanged.