Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic slid yesterday as tension between Washington and Russia over Ukraine shows no sign of lessening.
US President Joe Biden has said there is every indication Russia was planning to invade in the next few days and was preparing a pretext to justify it.
The main share indices in Europe were all down on Thursday, including the FTSE 100 which dropped by 66 points to 7,537.
BP and Shell dragged the UK's top index down, tracking lower oil prices amid volatile trading. Banking stocks, including HSBC, also declined.
The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,555 just after it opened this morning - a rise of 18 points.
Reuters reports that, on Wall Street, the growth-oriented technology and communication services sectors were among the hardest hit yesterday. Financials also declined as US Treasury yields moved lower.
Developments in Ukraine have added to uncertainty about the path of the Federal Reserve's tightening plans to fight inflation.
Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said: "There's a lot of nervousness out there and, as we approach the weekend, nothing's been settled between Russia and Ukraine."
"The continued weakness, especially in the growth names, is indicative of elevated nervousness and sellers continuing to swamp buyers in just about every stock."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 622 points to 34,312, the S&P 500 lost 94 points to 4,380 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 407 points to 13,716.
Meanwhile, oil prices continued to retreat this morning after wild swings during the week, as the prospect of extra supply from Iran returning to the market outweighed fears of any Russian invasion of Ukraine, which could disrupt supply.
The April contract for Brent crude was down 0.60% at $92.41, while West Texas Intermediate's March contract fell 0.72% to $91.10.
Reuters says both benchmark contracts could be headed for their first weekly fall in nine weeks after hitting their highest points since September 2014.
A deal is said to be taking shape to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.
Diplomats said the draft accord outlines a sequence of steps that would eventually lead to granting waivers on oil sanctions.
That could bring more than 1million barrels a day of Iranian crude back to the market.
However, analysts do not expect prices to fall much in the near term, as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, are struggling to meet production targets.
Commonwealth Bank sees Brent holding in the $90 to $100 a barrel range in the short term, and topping $100 "quite easily" if tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine.
Companies reporting today
Finals: Liberty Global, NatWest Group, Segro
Other update:
ONS retail sales figures for January