Wall Street Rebounds on Easing Tensions in Ukraine – Al
Wall Street Rebounds on Easing
Tensions in Ukraine
Wall Street Rebounds on Easing Tensions
in Ukraine
NEW YORK, August 8, 2014 (Xinhua) —
U.S. stocks bounced back Friday from recent drops, on signs of
declining tensions in Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 185.66 points, or 1.13
percent, to 16,553.93. The SP 500 surged 22.02 points, or 1.15 percent,
to 1,931.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 35.93 points, or 0.83
percent, to 4,370.90.
The stock market kept climbing in the afternoon session after a
report came out that Russia ended military drill near the Ukrainian
border, which lured investors into buying a dip.
Wall Street went up slightly higher, as the Pentagon announced on
Friday that the U.S. military have launched targeted airstrikes on
forces of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by dropping
two laser-guided bombs on its mobile artillery.
Following the gains, major stock indices turned positive for the week
when the market had been under downside pressure amid geopolitical
turmoil, up 0.4 percent, 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
On the economic front, U.S. wholesale inventories advanced 0.3
percent in June on a monthly basis, falling short of market estimates,
the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said Friday that U.S. nonfarm
business sector labor productivity increased at a 2.5 percent annual
rate during the second quarter of 2014, beating analyst forecast. Unit
labor costs in nonfarm businesses rose 0.6 percent in the quarter, shy
of market expectations.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear
gauge, dipped 5.34 percent to end at 15.77 Friday.
In other markets, U.S. crude price gained Friday on U.S. airstrikes
against insurgents in Iraq. Light, sweet crude for September delivery
moved up 31 cents to settle at 97.65 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery lost
42 cents to close at 105.02 dollars a barrel.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange lost ground Friday as tensions in Ukraine decelerated, with the
most active gold contract for December delivery down 1.5 dollars, or
0.11 percent, to settle at 1,311 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. dollar weakened against most major currencies Friday as the
United States launched airstrikes against militants in Iraq.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3410 dollars from 1.3359
dollars of the previous session, and the greenback bought 102.04
Japanese yen, lower than 102.07 yen of the previous session.
Editor: yan
Donetsk militia ready for ceasefire to prevent further
humanitarian catastrophe
Published time: August 09, 2014 13:41 Edited time: August 09, 2014
15:54
Donetsk region militia says it is ready for a ceasefire to stop the
humanitarian catastrophe deteriorating, the self-proclaimed Republic’s
prime minister said.
LIVE UPDATES:Kyiv’s
bloody eastern Ukraine campaign
We hope that the international community will influence the
bloodthirsty Kyiv government, Aleksandr Zakharchenko said as cited
by RIA Novosti. But in the case of Ukrainian army aggression
continuing, our peoples militia will fight with any balance of forces
and in any conditions, he said.
The self-proclaimed Republic’s prime minister confirmed Kyiv forces
surrounded Donetsk on Saturday. Briefing on the current situation there,
he said there is a humanitarian catastrophe in the city.
People are dying in shelling. In the case of a storming of the
city, the number of victims will increase. Today there are absolutely no
humanitarian corridors. Medicines cant get into Donetsk and food
supplies are running out. Because of the blockade and bombardment, it is
impossible to repair the destroyed municipal network, Zakharchenko
said. He added the city has problems with water supplies and power.
The statement comes as the UN voiced serious concerns over the
situation in eastern Ukraine.
Innocent civilians trapped in the fighting continue to lose
their lives, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.
Ban promised that the UN will continue to “actively and closely”
follow the situation, and if there is further deterioration of the
humanitarian situation, or if nationally-led response efforts are not
sufficient to meet humanitarian needs, the organization will be
“ready to consider additional measures of support.”
The UN chief also praised Kyiv for handling the situation at this
stage “appropriately.”
Despite increasing numbers of refugees fleeing to Russia and the
continuing fighting in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials deny that
the region is on verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk declared a state of
humanitarian catastrophe on Tuesday, as there are no medical supplies,
electricity, or lighting, as well as a lack of mobile and internet
communication. Some 250,000 civilians are unable to leave, a statement
on the city council website said.
Read more: Humanitarian catastrophe: Lugansk, E. Ukraine, left with no
water, power
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, is calling for an
international humanitarian mission to be launched. Whereas Ukraines
envoy to UN Yuriy Sergeyev said the situation in eastern Ukraine is
manageable by the government, adding that there is no humanitarian
crisis.
On August 4, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed
humanitarian convoys, saying that Russia was ready to provide
humanitarian assistance to its neighbor on our own.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supported the
proposal, saying that the ICRC acknowledges receipt of the offer
from the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, about
organizing aid convoys to the affected areas in Ukraine.
Kyiv officials claimed a Russian “humanitarian convoy” was
stopped from crossing the border on Friday over fears it was an attempt
by Moscow to invade Ukraine.
“Supposedly in consultation with the International Committee of
the Red Cross in Ukraine, the humanitarian convoy with ‘peacekeepers’
was meant to enter apparently in order to provoke a full-scale
conflict,” Valeriy Chaliy, deputy head of Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko’s office said.
Russia has denied Kyivs claims that Russian military attempted to
infiltrate Ukrainian territory.
We struggle to understand what the Ukrainian side means. There
have been no attempts of infiltration by the Russian army, said
President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
The Red Cross, at the same time, also denied allegations the
organization was involved in any such “humanitarian convoy.”
ICRC spokeswoman Sitara Jabee told AFP that if all sides in the
conflict were to agree, the ICRC could potentially receive aid from
Russia.
But so far, “nothing has been done,” she said.
Ukraine says stops Russian troops invading, Moscow calls
statement ‘fairy tale’
KYIV Sat Aug 9, 2014 11:50am EDT
(Reuters) –
Ukraine said on Saturday it had headed off an attempt by
Russia
to send troops into Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers with the aim
of provoking a large-scale military conflict, a statement Moscow
dismissed as a “fairy tale”.
Ukraine has made several similar statements about Russian aggression
during months of conflict with separatists on its eastern border with
Russia
that it says are backed by Moscow none of which have been independently
verifiable.
A senior aide to Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said a large
Russian military convoy had been heading for the border on Friday under
a supposed agreement with the Red Cross, but had stopped after an appeal
by Kyiv to Russia.
It was not immediately clear what convoy Poroshenko’s aide was
referring to.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday it had finished military
exercises in southern Russia, near the Ukrainian border, which the
United States had criticized as provocative.
“A huge military convoy accompanied by Russian soldiers and equipment
was moving towards the Ukrainian border, allegedly by agreement with the
Red Cross,” Valery Chaly, deputy head of Poroshenko’s administration,
said.
No one at the Red Cross was immediately available to comment.
“A humanitarian column with ‘peacekeepers’ was to enter the territory
of Ukraine, clearly to provoke a full-scale conflict,” he said,
according to Ukraine’s presidential press service.
Chaly said Poroshenko held urgent talks with his security chiefs and
world leaders, though he did not specify which ones. Foreign Minister
Pavlo Klimkin said separately he had called his Russian counterpart
Sergei Lavrov who had assured him the convoy would be stopped.
“As of now, the danger of provocation has been removed, but
operational staff continue to work,” Chaly said.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry,
dismissed the statement by Chaly as untrue.
“Each time Kyiv is more and more inventive in creating fairy tales,”
she said, noting that special protocols had to be completed before
Russian troops could be sent abroad.
“The (Ukrainian) National Guard probably have to report about their
achievements in the field, so they pretended they have some,” she said.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin,
said by phone: “We don’t know what (the Ukrainians) are talking about
because nothing like that happened.”
However, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry warned the danger was not over.
“Against a background of numerous violations by Russia of the border
regime with Ukraine and deliveries of weapons, equipment and
mercenaries, Ukraine has enough grounds for believing that this convoy
can be used again for further escalation of tension,” the ministry said
in a statement.
Ukraine and the West see a growing danger of a Russian invasion under
the guise of a peacekeeping mission. Kyiv says any such mission would be
perceived as direct aggression.
The head of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen called this week on Russia to
pull its troops back from the Ukrainian border and warned further
intervention in Ukraine would mean greater isolation from the rest of
the world.
The head of the U.S.-led alliance said Russia had massed about 20,000
troops near Ukrainian border, very close to the regions where Ukrainian
government forces are fighting pro-Russian rebels.
Ukrainian officials say that frequent Russian military exercises near
the border complicate the situation, and on Saturday a Ukrainian
military spokesman said that the move was not a “stage in de-escalation
of the situation near the border”.
Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of orchestrating the
revolt and arming the rebels, who have declared independent “people’s
republics” in the two main industrial regions. Moscow denies
involvement.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Additional reporting by
Gabriela Baczynska, Polina Devitt, Alexei Anishchuk and
Jason Bush in Moscow and
Richard Balmforth in Kyiv; Editing by
Louise Ireland)
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