NEW YORK, RAW – All three major US stock indexes have ended more than one per cent lower as oil prices jumped and Western leaders began gathering in Brussels to plan more measures to pressure Russia to halt its conflict in Ukraine.

Responding to sanctions that have hit Russia’s economy hard, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will seek payment in roubles for natural gas sales from “unfriendly” countries, while its forces continued to bomb areas of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv a month into their assault.

Oil prices rallied five per cent to more than $US121 a barrel and natural gas futures also jumped.

While higher oil prices benefit energy shares, they are a negative for consumers and many businesses.

The S&P 500 energy sector rose 1.7 per cent and utilities gained 0.2 per cent, while all of the other major S&P 500 sectors were lower on the day.

 

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“These geopolitical problems are sort of hanging over the market,” Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco, said.

“The resurgence of oil prices is giving people pause,” he said. “There needs to be a resolution with Russia. That’s going to hold the market back.”

The day’s decline follows a recent string of gains as the market recovered from lows hit amid the conflict and increased worries about inflation and higher interest rates.

Among the day’s biggest drags, Adobe’s stock slid 9.3 per cent after the Photoshop-maker late on Tuesday forecast downbeat second-quarter revenue and profit and anticipates an impact on fiscal 2022 revenue due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 448.96 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 34,358.5, the S&P 500 lost 55.37 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 4,456.24, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 186.21 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 13,922.60.

Investors continued to assess the outlook for US interest rates.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly said on Wednesday she is open to raising rates by 50 basis points in May, joining other policymakers in saying so.

Last week, the US central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2018.

Google said it will pause all ads containing content that exploits, dismisses or condones the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Its stock fell 1.1 per cent.

GameStop stock jumped 14.5 per cent after Chairman Ryan Cohen’s investment company bought 100,000 shares in the videogame retailer.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.78-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.81-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 22 new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 43 new highs and 60 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 11.69 billion shares, compared with the 14.62 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.