The U.S. announced sanctions on "Nord Stream 2", one of Russia's major future energy sources, and Ukraine also declared a state of emergency, making the situation in Eastern Europe even more tense. U.S. stocks rose first and then fell on Wednesday.
The Dow rose by more than 200 points in the early stage, but it turned sharply in the middle and closed down nearly 500 points; many major technology stocks were sold, dragging down the Nasdaq, of which Tesla plunged 7%.
The Dow Jones index closed at 33,131 points, down 464 points or 1.38%; the S&P 500 closed at 4,225 points, down 79 points or 1.84%, about 12% lower than the high since January 3, and continued to fall into the technical adjustment zone; The Daq Composite was at 13,037 points, down 344 points or 2.57%.
Retail stocks "red in the river", Macy's fell 5.24%, TJX fell 4.21%, Best Buy fell 2.12%, and Home Depot fell 2.44%.
Lowe's beat expectations and rose 0.23% against the market trend.
Technology stocks were sold again amid uncertainty.
Tesla fell 7%, falling below $800; Apple fell 2.59%, Microsoft fell 2.59%, Amazon fell 3.58%, NVIDIA fell 4.29%, Alphabet fell 1.71%, and Meta fell 1.8%.
Morgan Stanley: Once the geopolitical crisis eases, U.S. stocks are expected to rebound 5% quickly. JPMorgan says U.S. technology stocks have not yet fallen to cheap levels. Predicting high oil prices is another worry for weary investors, Bank of Montreal strategist says recession fears are overblown, S&P 500 up 20% by year-end