US STOCKS-Wall St falls, energy hit by new Russia sanctions

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were lower on Friday, with energy again leading the market down after the Treasury department announced new sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions, designed to punish Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, affect oil and defense industries and further limit major Russian banks' access to U.S. debt and equity markets.

The S&P energy index fell 0.9 percent, by far the worst-performing sector on the day. The group has come under pressure this week, down more than 3 percent, falling alongside crude oil prices. Exxon Mobil Corp fell 0.9 percent to $96.12 on Friday while ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP - news) was down 0.9 percent to $78.67.

"The sanctions are factoring into the market, and there seem to be some people using this as an excuse to sell, but we've been buying energy stocks in this market. We see it as attractive overall," said John Traynor, chief investment officer of People's United Wealth Management in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The Dow Jones industrial average was falling 13.1 points, or 0.08 percent, to 17,035.9, the S&P 500 was losing 4.53 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,992.92 and the Nasdaq Composite was dropping 9.30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,582.51.

The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange was China Green Agriculture (NYSE: CGA - news) , rising 34.65 percent, while the largest percentage decliner was North Atlantic Drilling , down 7.23 percent.

Among the most active stocks on the NYSE were Sprint Corp , up 6.39 percent to $6.99; Bank of America, up 1.15 percent to $16.76 and Petroleo Brasil, down 3.80 percent to $16.96.

On the Nasdaq, eBay Inc, up 4.2 percent to $52.82; Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , up 0.2 percent to $101.59; and Yahoo Inc (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) , up 1.5 percent to $41.86, were among the most actively traded.

Declining issues were outnumbering advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,207 to 721, for a 3.06-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,515 issues were falling and 1,004 advancing for a 1.51-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The broad S&P 500 index was posting 13 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 45 new highs and 18 new lows. (Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)