by Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Tuesday as investors watched developments in the Ukraine crisis with concern, even as major Wall Street indexes erased some their losses after the announcement by the United States of the first sanctions against Russia.
The Dow Jones index fell 1.42%, or 482.57 points, to 33,596.61 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 44.11 points, or 1.01%, to 4,304.76 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell for its part by 166.55 points (1.23%) to 13,381.52 points.
Ahead of US President Joe Biden’s speech on the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq were down more than 2%.
The S&P-500 entered the correction zone, down more than 10% from its closing record on January 3.
In the aftermath of Moscow’s announcement of the recognition of the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, which he described as the start of an invasion, Joe Biden said on Tuesday afternoon that he still hoped that a diplomatic solution to the crisis is possible.
In a televised address, the head of the White House ruled out the hypothesis of a confrontation between the United States and Russia and declared that the American sanctions were aimed in particular at financial institutions and Russian sovereign debt.
“It finally gives some teeth to all this rhetoric, all this strategy,” said Jake Dollarhide, managing director of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“That’s something that makes the opposite side feel a bit of pain and I think it’s appropriate,” he said.
Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Alliance still believed Moscow was planning a major offensive against Ukraine.
All major sectors of the S&P-500 ended the session in the red.
On the stock side, Home Depot fell 8.9% after reporting a lower operating margin in the fourth quarter due to higher delivery and labor costs.
* TO BE FOLLOWED ON WEDNESDAY:
(French version Jean Terzian)