S&P 500 Pares Drop on Ukraine Developments Amid GDP Data

New York (Aug 28)  U.S. stocks pared losses as investors watched developments in Ukraine and data showed the U.S. economy expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter.

The S&P 500 (SPX) dropped 0.1 percent to 1,997.92 at 12:32 p.m. in New York, paring an earlier decline of 0.5 percent.

“These geopolitical events tend to be transitory, where the market may drop over the short-term but then tends to recover pretty quickly,” Bob Landry, executive director and portfolio manager at San Antonio-based USAA Investment Management Co., said via phone. He helps manage $22.3 billion. “For the most part these things don’t tend to result in meaningful market corrections.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed in a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi the need to halt the bloodshed in Ukraine, Putin’s office said in e-mailed statement. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged to step up the country’s defenses against what he earlier called a “de facto” Russian incursion after separatists gained ground in intensified fighting.

The U.S. economy expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter, propelled by the biggest gain in business investment in more than two years. Gross domestic product rose at a 4.2 percent annualized rate, up from an initial estimate of 4 percent and following a first-quarter contraction, Commerce Department figures showed.

Source: Bloomberg