After an exchange of fire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Moscow rebels in the east of the country, US President Joe Biden said that all indications were that Russia was planning to invade its neighbor in the next few days and was preparing a pretext to justify it.
Russia accused Biden of stoking tension and issued a strongly worded message saying Washington was ignoring its security demands and threatening to take unspecified “military-technical measures”.
On Wall Street, the technology and communications services sectors were the hardest hit.
Stocks of financial institutions also fell as US Treasury yields fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 622.24 points, or 1.78%, to close at 34,312.03 points. The S&P500 index fell by
94.75 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 4380.26 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 407.38 points, or 2.88 percent, to 13,716.72 points.
The Dow’s decline was the largest on a daily basis in percentage terms since November 30, while the Nasdaq’s decline was the largest in percentage since February 3.