Stocks fluctuate on Russia-Ukraine news

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi discuss the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war and how headlines are moving markets.

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JULIE HYMAN: Thing number two this morning we have to talk about the latest with Russia and Ukraine. A couple of things to break down for you on this front. And you can see how, over the course of the overnight session, we saw various headlines continue to hit the market and create fluctuations. That is something we've been seeing. So in other words, it is still a pretty headline-driven market when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

So thing number one here this morning a spokesman for the Kremlin says, in response to some reports, that there had been progress in cease fire talks that that report is incorrect. That there is no resolution on cease fire talks as of yet.

You can see crude oil, both Brent and WTI, rebounding here this morning. Another thing to mention here, as we are watching that situation, is that White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announcing that President Biden is set to have a call with President Xi of China on Friday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine situation. So that will be something that we will be monitoring closely.

All of this, as Russia made a bond payment. Now, why is this important? It's broadly expected that Russia is going to go into default, but it's not happening yet.

It made a payment of $117 million worth on interest due on $2-denominated bonds. So it avoids that default for now. But it might just be delaying the inevitable. Soz.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, all eyes here, Julie, of course, remains on the energy markets here. Now, oil is popping a little bit off those lows we've seen early in the week.

But President Biden out with a new tweet looking, or calling, out energy companies yet again, saying "oil prices are decreasing, gas prices should too. Last time oil was $96, a barrel gas was $3.62 a gallon. Now it's $4.31. Oil and gas companies shouldn't pad their profits at the expense of hardworking Americans."

Again, the reality remains, Julia, gas prices are going to remain at elevated levels, even considering that slight pullback off the highs we've seen in oil markets. It's just the reality of the situation.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, I mean, you know, I've seen a considerable amount of pushback against that kind of narrative that gasoline prices are higher now than they were the last time oil was at these levels. We can break that down in detail another time. I think that the suggestion that individual gas station operators in this country are sort of gouging consumers. I think it's not that clear of a picture. So, but we'll talk about that in more detail another time.