• Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 353 points, or 1%, to about 33,442
• Brent crude rose more than 6% to nearly $118
On Thursday, a stronger-than-expected jobs report couldn’t prevent the stocks from slipping as investors grew anxious about Russia’s relentless war on Ukraine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 353 points, or 1%, to about 33,442. The S&P 500 slipped about 53 points, or 1.2%, to about 4,311. The Nasdaq Composite fell about 263 points, or 1.9%, to 13,275.
For the week, the Dow was heading for a 1.8% drop while the S&P 500 was on track to fall 1.7%. The Nasdaq is poised to lose 3.1%, according to market analysts.
Stocks fell rapidly after reports about smoke emanating from a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, gripped the entire European continent with fear. The Russian troops seized the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. Zaporizhzhia is the largest in Europe. The U.S. embassy in Kyiv called the attack a war crime.
Dow futures plunged about 500 points immediately after the first reports of the nuclear plant fire emerged late Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures following a similar path.
Investors rushed to safe-haven assets, such as gold and the dollar, with the euro slipping by 1.4% to $1.0906, a level not seen in nearly two years.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped about 11 basis points to around 1.73%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.
After the attack, energy prices were higher across the board, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rising by 7% to more than $115 per barrel and global standard Brent crude rising more than 6% to nearly $118.