U.S. stocks took an U turn as fears over the escalation of conflict between Ukraine and Russia as well as slowdown in China outweighed upbeat domestic economic data.
Stocks opened higher after a pair of upbeat economic reports, which showed a surprise drop in a number of people claiming unemployment benefits and an uptick in retail sales in February, but indexes gave up gains less than hour into trading and sold off by afternoon.
The S&P 500 was down 12 points, or 0.7% at 1,855.65, pulling away from its previous closing high. Technology and energy sector stocks were leading losses .The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 122 points, or 0.8%, to 16,218.91, with 27 of 30 stocks trading lower.The Nasdaq Composite lost 39 points, or 0.9%, to 4,284.34.
Stocks opened higher after a pair of upbeat economic reports, which showed a surprise drop in a number of people claiming unemployment benefits and an uptick in retail sales in February, but indexes gave up gains less than hour into trading and sold off by afternoon.
The S&P 500 was down 12 points, or 0.7% at 1,855.65, pulling away from its previous closing high. Technology and energy sector stocks were leading losses .The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 122 points, or 0.8%, to 16,218.91, with 27 of 30 stocks trading lower.The Nasdaq Composite lost 39 points, or 0.9%, to 4,284.34.