Stocks Fall After Ukraine Strikes Russia With US Weapons

Stock prices fell Tuesday as nervous investors reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to lower his country's threshold for a nuclear strike following Ukraine's first use of American-supplied guided missiles.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped to 43,060.31, down 0.76%, shortly after U.S. markets opened, while the S&P 500 dipped to 5,866.18, down 0.47%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.26%, at 18,742,39.

In earlier trading, the prices of safe-haven assets including government bonds and the Japanese yen rallied, according to Reuters.

"The market's movement appears to be driven by this morning's news about changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine," Michael Weidner, co-head of global fixed income at Lazard Asset Management, told Reuters.

Russia said Ukraine fired six Army Tactical Missile System missiles, known as ATACMS, and claimed it shot down five and damaged one, according to the Associated Press.

The debris fell on the grounds of an unspecified military facility and sparked a fire but didn't cause any casualties or damage, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine said it hit a military weapons depot in Russia's Bryansk region in the middle of the night but didn't say what weapons it used, AP said.

Tuesday marked the 1,000th day of the war that erupted when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2021.