US stocks move broadly lower as Ukraine tensions persist

NEW YORK — Stocks fell broadly in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday, chipping away at the weekly gains for major indexes.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 12:04 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 360 points, or 1%, to 34,577 and the Nasdaq fell 1.6%.

Technology stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Microsoft fell 1.7%.

Bond yields fell and dragged banks lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.97% from 2.04% late Wednesday. Bank of America shed 2.1%.

The benchmark S&P 500 is wobbling between a small gain and a small loss for the week, while the Dow is solidly in the red and the Nasdaq is holding onto a gain.

Markets have been unsettled all week by tensions in Ukraine, where Russian military forces have amassed at the border. U.S. President Joe Biden said there was a high risk that Russia would invade the country.

The potential for a military conflict in Europe made for volatile energy prices this week. Russia is a major energy producer and a military conflict could disrupt supplies and jolt markets. U.S. crude oil prices fell 2%.

Markets in Europe, which have been particularly sensitive to tensions in Ukraine, were mostly lower.

Geopolitical tensions in Europe have only added to worries investors face as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates to fight persistently rising inflation.

Wall Street has been looking for clues about how much and how quickly the central bank will begin raising interest rates. The minutes from the latest meeting of Fed officials released on Wednesday showed that most policymakers suggested that a faster pace of increases in the benchmark short-term interest rate “would likely be warranted.”

Inflation has spiked to a 40-year high and companies have been dealing with supply chain problems and higher costs by raising prices on finished goods for consumers. Many have also warned investors that profits, sales and overall operations will still be hurt by inflation.

The move to raise prices on goods has heightened concerns that consumers could eventually pull back spending, which could damage economic growth. Consumers haven’t pulled back yet, though, according to latest report from the Commerce Department showing that retail sales surged 3.8% in January as the threat of the omicron variant of COVID-19 faded.

Wall Street is also reviewing the latest round of corporate report cards. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, rose 2.2% after reporting strong fourth-quarter financial results. Cisco Systems, which makes routers, gained 4.1% after raising its profit forecast for the year.