Stocks lose grip on earlier gains to end lower Tuesday

Stocks finished lower on Tuesday after failing to hold earlier gains, as the Biden administration made good on threats to ban Russian oil imports in a bid to further pressure Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine. As U.S. oil prices finished above $123 a barrel, the highest since 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up about 185 points, or 0.6%, to end deeper in correction territory around 32,631, a day after entering it for the first time in two years. The S&P 500 index fell about 0.7%, while the battered Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3%, a day after it tumbled into bear-market territory.

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