Stocks fell sharply Thursday as Russia attacked Ukraine, causing global energy prices to jump and sending investors fleeing for the safety of fixed income assets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Index was pounded 638.59 points, or 1.9%, to 32,493.17.
The S&P 500 index fell 51.11 points, or 1.2%, to 4,174.39.
The NASDAQ Composite Index plummeted 84.85 points to 12,952.64.
After a rough open, investors appeared to be buying the dip on some of the biggest tech names. Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft all traded higher — erasing sharp declines from earlier in the day. Tesla was also well off its session lows, trading just 0.1% lower. Apple shares pared losses as well, and were down about 2.4%.
Outside of some tech buying, it was a broad sell-off with investors selling shares en masse. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase lost more than 4.5% each. Boeing lost 3%. United Airlines was down more than 5%.
Among the few stocks in the green were energy and defense stocks. Exxon Mobil was slightly higher. Lockheed Martin gained 1.5% and Raytheon Technologies was marginally higher.
Moscow launched the military action in Ukraine overnight Thursday. There were reports of explosions and missile strikes on several key Ukrainian cities including its capital, Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the invasion “the demilitarization” of Ukraine and said Russia’s plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were lower, raising yields to 1.99% from at Wednesday’s 1.93%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices leaped $5.86, or $97.96 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices soared $17.00 to $1,927.40 U.S. an ounce.