US stocks tumbled Thursday after a Malaysian airliner crashed in rebel-held east Ukraine in an incident that some Ukrainians blamed on pro-Russia separatist forces.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 161.48 points (0.94 percent) to 16,976.72.
The broad-based S&P 500 plummeted 23.41 (1.18 percent) to 1,958.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 62.52 (1.41 percent) at 4,363.45.
"Obviously it's all about the tragedy in Ukraine," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. "This raises the level of the fear factor regarding geopolitical concerns."
There were no signs of survivors from the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said he could not rule out that the plane was shot down. Poroshenko's official spokesman said he believed pro-Russia insurgents downed the jet.
"This incident is not a catastrophe. It is a terrorist act," Poroshenko's spokesman posted on Twitter.