Stocks fell on Friday despite a stronger-than-expected jobs report as worrisome developments in Ukraine weighed on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 179.86 points, or 0.53%, to close at 33,614.80. The S&P 500 declined 0.79% to 4,328.87, while Nasdaq Composite moved down 1.66% to 13,313.44.
The Dow, which was down more than 500 points at session lows, notched its fourth straight losing week.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 slid more than 1%. The NASDAQ lost more than 2%.
The decline for stocks followed reports that smoke was visible from a nuclear power plant in Ukraine — the largest in Europe — after Russian troops attacked. Reports Friday morning indicated that Russian forces had seized the plant in Zaporizhzhia. The U.S. embassy in Kyiv called the attack a war crime.
Financial stocks, which can benefit from higher interest rates, declined, with American Express losing 3.8% and JPMorgan Chase falling 2.8%.
Travel stocks were another weak spot on Friday, with shares of United Airlines falling more than 9%. Shares of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines dropped 5.6% and 7.1%, respectively. Major tech shares also declined, with Microsoft losing 2% and Apple falling 1.8%.
Energy stocks rose along with oil prices. Occidental Petroleum jumped more than 17%, while Diamondback Energy climbed 1.5%. Defensive sectors also outperformed. Walmart and UnitedHealth each rose 2.7%.
The developments in Ukraine appeared to overshadow a stronger-than-expected February jobs report. The economy added 678,000 jobs last month, above the 440,000 expected by economists, according to Dow Jones. The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8%.