US stocks mixed as investors digest increased sanctions against Russia while initial Ukraine talks end with little progress

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 18, 202
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US stocks ended mixed on Monday as investors digested ramped-up sanctions against Russia and initial peace talks showed little progress.
Western countries in Europe and the US announced sanctions against Russian banks designed to cripple the country's economy.
The Russian ruble plunged to record lows on Monday, and Russia's central bank closed its stock market.

US stocks pared losses to end mixed on Monday as investors digested ramped-up sanctions against financial institutions in Russia as well as as initial peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that showed little progress.

The sanctions come as Russia continues its offensive against Ukraine and shows no signs of succeeding in taking over the capital city, Kyiv.

The new penalties imposed by Europe and the US include removing Russian banks from the SWIFT program, a communications system that serves as the backbone to the global financial system. The sanctions are designed to cripple Russia's economy, and so far they seem to be working.

Russia's ruble fell to record lows against the dollar on Monday, and although the country closed its stock market on Monday, shares of Russian companies that trade on exchanges in London plunged.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Monday:

S&P 500: 4,373.89, down 0.25%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,892.60, down 0.49% (166.15 points)
Nasdaq Composite: 13,751.40, up 0.41%

In addition to closing its stock market and instituting a ban on the short-selling of Russian securities, the central bank of Russia instructed brokers to not execute sell orders from foreigners. The central bank of Russia also doubled its interest rate to 20% in an attempt to prevent hyperinflation and a total collapse of its currency.

The financial harm suffered by Russia in recent days led to long lines at ATMs in Russia as its citizens pulled cash out of their accounts and attempted to convert it into US dollars and other foreign currencies.

Ukraine is calling for more penalties to be imposed on Russia, including cutting the country's citizens off from cryptocurrency exchanges. It's time to "sabotage ordinary users," Ukraine's deputy prime minister said.

Citing "regulatory concerns," US exchanges including the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange halted the trading of Russian stocks like Yandex and Ozon Holdings. Russia's central bank said on Monday that its stock market would remain closed on Tuesday.

But trades in the VanEck Russia ETF were permitted on Monday, and the ETF plunged as much as 31%, representing its worst day on record. The decline in the Russia ETF could be an indicator of what's to come for the Russian stock market once it reopens.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to BP ditching its partnership with oil giant Rosneft. BP dropped 8% after it said it would divest its 20% stake in the company and remove its CEO from the Russian oil giant's board of directors. BP is expected to lose well over $10 billion from the move.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 4.57% to $959.78 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose as much as 0.07% to $98.00 per barrel. Bitcoin prices soared 10.8% to $41,900.

Gold rose as much as 1.53% to $1,916.40 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury plunged 14 basis points to 1.83%.

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