by Abigail Summerville

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday amid concerns over escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, while disappointing results from Target weighed before publication , highly anticipated, after the closing of Nvidia’s results.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.32%, or 139.53 points, to 43,408.47 points.

The broader S&P-500 gained 0.13 points to 5,917.11 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 21.32 points (0.11%) to 18,966.14 points.

According to information from Russian war reporters confirmed by a representative on condition of anonymity, Ukraine launched a series of British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles against Russian territory on Wednesday, a day after the use of American ATACMS missiles , while Russia announced that it had relaxed its nuclear doctrine this week.

The CBOE volatility index, considered an indicator of the level of fear on Wall Street, jumped to 18.79 during the session before falling to 17.24, which however constitutes a peak since the US presidential election of November 5.

“It became a little more defensive today after a sharp rise yesterday (Tuesday) thanks to high growth stocks and the ‘tech’ sector,” commented James Regan, director of research at DA Davidson.

“Maybe there’s a conservative stance ahead of Nvidia’s results, or a broader reaction to Target’s results, which is a barometer of consumption,” he said. “There are also more geopolitical concerns with tensions in Ukraine and Russia, and the United States evacuating embassies.”

Ahead of the publication of its quarterly results, Nvidia ended down 0.76%, dragging the information technology sector in its wake and weighing on the Nasdaq.

The semiconductor manufacturer, a heavyweight in artificial intelligence (AI) whose rise has carried Wall Street this year, could find it difficult to impress investors, due to high expectations for it.

Target plunged 21.4% after publishing quarterly results below expectations and communicating disappointing forecasts for the end of the year. High-growth stocks like Tesla and Amazon fell.

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(Written by Jean Terzian)

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