March 3, 2014 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks sank, tracking a global selloff in equities, as Russia’s threat to invade Ukraine sent investors searching for havens.
General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc. each plunged 1.2 percent to pace declines among large industrial shares. The Market Vectors Russia ETF tracking companies from Gazprom OAO to OAO Lukoil dropped 6.4 percent. Yandex NV, a U.S.-listed online search engine operating in Russia, slumped 10 percent. Newmont Mining Corp., the largest U.S. producer of the metal, jumped 2.8 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.6 percent to 1,848.76 at 9:49 a.m. in New York. The gauge closed at a record on Feb. 28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131.04 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,190.67. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 11 percent above the 30-day average at this time of day.