By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened markedly higher on Tuesday, in relief at an apparent de-escalation of Russian military activity on the border with Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry had earlier said that some of the troops who have been taking place in large-scale military exercises will now return to their bases, a day after President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signalled their openness to further diplomatic engagement.
The relief on the geopolitical shock outweighed the disappointment at another shockingly high U.S. producer price inflation report, which will only increase the likelihood of an aggressive tightening of monetary policy. Producer prices rose by 1.0% in January, twice as much as expected, and December's figure was also revised up to 0.4% from 0.3%.
By 9.35 AM ET (1435 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 401 points, or 1.2%, at 34,968 points. The S&P 500 was up 1.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 1.7%.
Analysts said that the figures continued to show the effects of supply chain disruptions which would take time to work themselves out as the pandemic recedes. That the pandemic is receding, however, is in little doubt any more. With case numbers and hospitalizations in retreat, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has become the latest company to schedule a mass return to the office for its staff. Elsewhere, 3M (NYSE:MMM) stock continued to underperform, falling another 0.8% after it said on Monday that it sees its sales slowing as demand for its protective face masks ebbs this year.
Advances were broad-based, with only the energy sector lagging as the geopolitical risk faded from crude prices. U.S. crude futures fell some 4.9% to $90.78 a barrel. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) stock fell 2.5% while Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) stock fell 5.6%.
Among individual movers, Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) stock rose 42% amid reports that Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is close to buying the Israel-based chipmaker in its efforts to rebuild its contract manufacturing business.
Fidelity National Info (NYSE:FIS)stock fell 9.3% after a disappointing quarterly update, while Avis Budget (NASDAQ:CAR) stock fell 12.5%, unwinding the 7.5% move on Monday that preceded the release of its quarterly numbers. Avis' figures were generally strong, pointing to a solid rebound in business and leisure travel this year. Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) stock too was up 4.6% after reporting rising room and occupancy rates in the fourth quarter.
Other notable movers included Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), up 1.5% and brewer Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), which fell 2.1%, after a newswire report that the two companies have held talks about merging.
Elsewhere, Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) stock fell 1.4%, after a report by the BBC exposing the amount of sexually explicit material to be found in the supposedly child-friendly gaming network.