Nasdaq Hit Hard As Investors Fret Over Ukraine Crisis

Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, with growth stocks including Tesla and Amazon denting the Nasdaq, as the Ukraine crisis kept investors on edge.

Tesla dropped 4.6 percent and Amazon lost 2.7 percent, both contributing more than any other stocks to the Nasdaq's steep decline.

With Russia's military operation in Ukraine now a week in, hundreds of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian civilians have been killed, and Russia itself has been plunged into isolation.

"The market is entirely locked on what this geopolitical turmoil looks like," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. "Volatility is likely to remain for probably the near term, and maybe even the medium term, because I just don't see what an acceptable off ramp in the next couple of weeks for Ukraine or Putin."

Also, soaring prices of oil and other commodities have stoked fears that recent high inflation could combine with stagnant economic growth, making it more difficult for the Federal Reserve and other major central banks to manage interest rates.

Wall Street surged in the previous session after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he would back a quarter point rate increase at the March 15-16 meeting, assuaging some fears of a more aggressive hike.

"We are going to stay in a tight range until we have the Fed meeting in two weeks because there's limited earnings," predicted Jay Hatfield, chief investment officer at Infrastructure Capital Management in New York.

"There's no real reason to be long, unless, of course, there's some peace or stability in Ukraine, which doesn't seem likely."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29 percent to end at 33,795 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.53 percent to 4,363. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.56 percent to 13,538.

Kroger Co jumped almost 12 percent after the grocer forecast upbeat annual same-store sales and profit, encouraged by strong demand for its pick-up and delivery services and sustained home-cooking trends.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc slid 9.3 percent after the apparel chain forecast a decline in earnings for the first half of 2022. (Reuters)