Wall Street opens mixed, Twitter soars on news of Musk stake

Major U.S. stock indexes are off to a mixed start on Wall Street today while Twitter soared 22% after the company disclosed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had taken a 9.2% stake in the social media platform.

In recent weeks Musk has publicly questioned the company’s commitment to free speech.

It was a mixed bag elsewhere in the market as investors tried to anticipate whether Russia could face even stricter economic sanctions now that details are emerging of what appear to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. Additional sanctions could impact energy and other markets, adding to uncertainties.

The S&P 500 was drifting between small gains and losses. Crude oil prices rose about 4%.

Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong rose. London was little changed. Shanghai was closed for a holiday.