Stocks dropped right at the opening bell in the morning and remained in the red throughout the trading session. The Dow is down more than 1% for the week following Thursday’s losses.
The S&P 500 fell 2.1% Thursday and the Nasdaq was down 2.9%. Both indexes are now in the red for the week as well.
Investors are nervous about what a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine could mean for oil prices and the global economy, especially if the United States and leading nations in Europe become involved.
The sell-off was broad-based, with 25 of the 30 Dow components trading lower. Walmart (WMT) and Cisco (CSCO) were two of the Dow’s bright spots after both reported strong earnings. Cisco rose nearly 3% and Walmart gained 4%.
Coca-Cola (KO) and Procter & Gamble (PG) were two other Dow standouts, as investors flocked to safe haven consumer companies that have reliable sales and profits and pay steady dividends.