Markets telling investors 'we are in a very fragile moment' amid Russia-Ukraine tensions: Former NYSE CEO
Biden says Russia is beginning an invasion of Ukraine, announces sanctions
Former NYSE CEO on market volatility amid potential Russian invasion of Ukraine
Former New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso argues the market is telling investors 'we are in a very fragile moment' amid rising tension between Russia and Ukraine and urges President Biden to issue strong sanctions.
Former New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso weighed in on recent market volatility amid rising tension between Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday, noting that markets are telling investors that "we are in a very fragile moment."
Speaking on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast," Grasso also stressed that it is important for President Biden to issue "strong sanctions" on Russia to send a strong message to other countries, including Iran and China.
Grasso made the comments shortly before Biden said Russia has begun an "invasion" of Ukraine Tuesday while announcing new sanctions aimed at deterring further aggression in Ukraine.
Biden called the sanctions "far beyond" those imposed on Russia during its 2014 annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, saying the U.S. was cutting off Russia's major financial institutions from the West.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43870.35 | +461.88 | +1.06% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5948.71 | +31.60 | +0.53% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18972.420086 | +6.28 | +0.03% |
U.S. stocks, in a choppy session, took a leg down early afternoon as investors weighed Russian President Vladimir Putin's ordering of troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine against earnings from big retailers.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS PROMPTS MARKETS TO BRACE FOR HEAVY FALLS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 500 points or 1.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped by 1.7% and 1.5%, after briefly turning positive and then negative again.
Western powers fear that Russia might use skirmishes in Ukraine's eastern regions as a pretext for an attack on the democracy, which has defied Moscow’s attempts to pull it back into its orbit.
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Grasso warned Tuesday that if President Biden doesn’t issue "strong sanctions," "Russia, China, and indirectly Iran will say, ‘America speaks loudly and carries a small stick.’"
"We’ve got to send a very powerful message to [Russian] President Putin that we won’t stand for his aggressiveness and his desire to take the entire Ukraine," Grasso told host Neil Cavuto.
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"If we allow Russia to go unfettered in terms of its quest for the Ukraine what does that say to China about its desire to reunify with Taiwan? What does it say to Iran about its pursuit of a nuclear device?" Grasso added.
"Strength is what our adversaries understand," he stressed, noting that "a very strong set of sanctions" will likely defer any further actions by the Russians, the Chinese, or the Iranians.