By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 fell Wednesday, and remained in correction territory as ongoing Ukraine-Russia tensions forced the broader market to give up its intraday gains.

It fell by 0.8%. Or 191 points.

On Wednesday, Ukraine declared an emergency as Russia’s growing threat of invasion increased sentiment.

Reuters claimed that Russia was moving towards Eastern Ukraine to acquire military equipment. It is a blow for hopes of a diplomatic solution at a time when Kyiv may be preparing for conflict. Reports of cyber attacks that took Ukrainian government and bank websites offline also added to tensions.

Ukraine called on its people to flee Russia, and called up all combatants for mandatory military service.

The U.S. announced sanctions on Tuesday to limit Russia’s ability to raise funding from the West and said it would also target Russian elites who have backed the current invasion.

The Europe Union, meanwhile, is set for an emergency summit on Thursday to discuss next steps following Russia’s move into Ukraine.

Oil prices remained stable despite rising tensions, which in turn boosted energy stocks.

Beyond the geopolitical tensions, a slew of quarterly earnings from consumer discretionary companies including TJX Companies (NYSE:), Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:) Companies (NYSE:) and Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:) were in focus.

TJX Companies (NYSE 🙂 dropped 5% following fourth quarter results. The company reported that top and bottom line numbers were not met due to a rise in costs caused by the pandemic and disruptions to supply chains.

Lowe’s, meanwhile, was up 3% after it delivered better-than-expected guidance as strong demand for home-improvement tools and building materials bolstered fourth-quarter results.

Caesars Entertainment posted a smaller quarterly loss. This was due to a surge in revenues as the demand for entertainment rebounded after the lifting of pandemic restrictions. The shares increased by more than 5%. 

Technology giants lost their gains early with Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 and Amazon(NASDAQ :), leading to the downturn.

Nvidia (NASDAQ) and Advanced Micro Devices(NASDAQ:) also pressed chip stocks to give up intraday gains, but Intel (NASDAQ) continued the trend.

Intel rose 1% following Raymond James’ upgrade to the stock from market perform to underperform. This was citing limited downside risk.

The “prevailing bull case on Intel now is that it will finally make some incremental progress on its roadmap, which will arrest and reverse AMD’s share gains,” Raymond James Analyst Christopher Caso said.

The S&P 500’s trend lower into correction territory has pushed it into oversold territory, and to levels that could trigger support.

“The trading chart above shows the S&P 500 closing in on 4200 support once again- but in doing so, is pressing into oversold territory,” Janney Montgomery Scott said in a note. “This implies we are likely to see another rally as the index approaches the 4200 range in sessions ahead.”