Markets slide as tensions rise over Ukraine

Dow Jones industrial average drops 200 points

3/3/2014

NEW YORK — Global stock markets are down sharply on tensions over Russia’s military advance into Ukraine and the threat of sanctions by Western governments.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 202 points, or 1.2 percent, to 16,118 as of midday today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 20 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,839. The S&P 500 closed at a record high Friday.

The Nasdaq composite fell 54 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,253.

Russia’s benchmark stock index plunged 12 percent. Stocks were also sharply lower in Europe. Germany’s DAX fell the most, 3.4 percent.

Gold and bond prices rose as investors shifted money into safer assets.

The price of crude oil rose 2 percent to $104 a barrel as traders worried about disruptions of Russian oil exports.