U.S. stocks fall as traders eye latest on Russia-Ukraine conflict

NEW YORK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as investors eyed updates regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.69 points, or 0.29 percent, to 33,794.66. The S&P 500 slipped 23.05 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4,363.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 214.08 points, or 1.56 percent, to 13,537.94.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with utilities up 1.72 percent, leading the gainers. Consumer discretionary and technology dipped 2.29 percent and 1.24 percent, respectively, leading the laggards.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded lower with all the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict remained a focus on Wall Street as the two sides held the second round of talks in Belarus on Thursday.

Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell continued day two of his semiannual testimony on monetary policy Thursday.

In his prepared remarks at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, the Fed chief reaffirmed the central bank's plan to raise interest rates in the upcoming policy meeting, noting that he is inclined to support a 25-basis-point rate hike.

On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 215,000 in the week ending Feb. 26, a decrease of 18,000 from the prior week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast initial jobless claims to total a seasonally adjusted 225,000.