U.S. stocks end mixed as investors eye Russia-Ukraine conflict

NEW YORK, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed on Monday as investor eyed updates regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166.15 points, or 0.49 percent, to 33,892.60. The S&P 500 decreased 10.71 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,373.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 56.78 points, or 0.41 percent, to 13,751.40.

Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with real estate down 1.77 percent, leading the laggards. Energy climbed 2.57 percent, the best-performing group.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

The Russia-Ukraine tensions remain a focus on Wall Street.

Ukrainian and Russian delegations concluded the peace talks at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border on Monday, with the next round of negotiations scheduled for the coming days on the Belarusian-Polish border, according to the Russian delegation.

Investors also weighed the impact of the latest sanctions against Russia.

The United States, several European countries and Canada issued a joint statement on Saturday saying they would remove some Russian banks from SWIFT, the payment system used for most international financial transactions.

With the situation shifting rapidly, the markets are expected to remain choppy in the near term, experts noted.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow dipped 0,06 percent, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.8 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.