Investing.com - Reports a missile took down a Malaysian Airlines aircraft over Ukraine near the Russian border coupled with Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza sent U.S. stocks plunging on Thursday.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 fell 0.94%, the S&P 500 index fell 1.18%, while the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.41%.
The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures the outlook for market volatility, was up 33.73% at 14.71.
Stocks fell on news that a Malaysian Airlines plane crashed in Ukraine, with wire reports quoting Ukraine authorities saying that the aircraft had been shot down though it was unclear by whom.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crash with 295 people aboard near the Russian border came in wake of new U.S. and European Union sanctions slapped on Russia, with fears brewing the conflict will escalate and dampen U.S. recovery by raising oil prices and dampening commerce among U.S. companies and Europe and Russia.
Elsewhere, Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza later in the session.
"Following ten days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to deescalate the situation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip," the IDF said on its website.
Geopolitical concerns completely overshadowed data released earlier.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to a more than three-year high of 23.9 this month from June’s reading of 17.8. Analysts had expected the index to dip to 16.0 in July.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 12 declined by 3,000 to 302,000 from the previous week’s total of 305,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 310,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month fell by 4.2% to 963,000 units from May’s total of 991,000. Analysts expected building permits to rise by 4.2% to 1.04 million units in June.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), up 1.59%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), up 1.03%, and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which was down 0.08%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), down 2.76%, Visa Inc (NYSE:V), down 2.14%, and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), down 2.09%.
European indices, meanwhile, ended the day lower.
After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.47%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.21%, while Germany's DAX fell 1.07%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.68%.
Markets on Friday will continue to track events surrounding the downed Malaysian Airlines plane and Israel's ground offensive in Gaza.
Elsewhere, the U.S. is release preliminary data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.