Around 10:15 a.m. GMT: the Dow Jones lost 0.72%, the Nasdaq gained 0.24%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.35%.

Wall Street closed at half mast on Friday as fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine intensified.

The Dow Jones had lost 1.43% to 34,738 points, the Nasdaq index, with a strong technological composition, had lost 2.78% to 13,791 points, and the broader S&P 500 index, 1.90% to 4,418 points.

Shortly before the start of trading on Monday, futures on Wall Street had risen close to equilibrium on news of a chance for compromise in the Russian-Western crisis, according to the head of Russian diplomacy.

But the indices fell back into the red at the opening after remarks by a member of the American Central Bank (Fed).

James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed, had already shaken the markets on Thursday by arguing for an interest rate hike of a full percentage point by July 1.

This monetary tightening is more severe than what his colleagues envisage.

On the CNBC financial channel, this voting member of the Monetary Committee reiterated his remarks affirming that it was "the credibility of the Fed" to face "accelerating inflation".

"We were surprised by the high inflation. (...) Our credibility is at stake here. And we must react to the figures", launched James Bullard.

In his words, yields on 10-year Treasury bills rose to 1.99% from 1.93% on Friday.

Stocks twitched, looking for direction.

The dollar gained in value, climbing 0.31% against the euro to 1.1315 dollars per euro at 15:00 GMT.

For Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com, "it has become clear that the Fed will raise its federal funds rate at its March meeting but there is some uncertainty as to whether the first rate hike will be 25 basis points. basis or 50 basis points".

“There are also rumors that the Fed may be forced to announce a rate hike between meetings,” in an impromptu meeting, he warned.

Geopolitical concerns remained on investors' minds.

"The White House has warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine may be imminent, while Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov suggested on Monday that diplomacy may still be an option," Schwab analysts summed up.

Lockheed Martin lost 1.89% to 388.69 dollars after abandoning a takeover of Aerojet Rocketdyne in the face of opposition from the American competition regulator.

Aerojet dropped 3.89% to 37.56 dollars.

The American group 3M, which notably produces scotch tape, post-its and respiratory protection masks, disappointed analysts by forecasting slower sales growth in 2022. The title dropped 2.26% to 155.94 dollars.

© 2022 AFP