The Dow shed 622 points on Thursday to log its worst day since November, as Wall Street turned to the renewed threat of Russia invading Ukraine. The latter accused pro-Moscow separatists of opening fire in one of its bordering villages, while U.S. President Joe Biden said an invasion could happen within “the next several days.” The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq were not spared, either, with both settling deep into the red. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), however, logged its best day in roughly one week.

Traders also had a mixed bag of big-name earnings reports and economic indicators to unpack today. Worse-than-expected jobless claims for the week and housing starts data for January weighed on sentiment, while housing permits saw a surprise pop last month.

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 34,312.03) fell 622.2 points or 1.8% for the day. Walmart (WMT) led the gainers with a 4% pop, while Salesforce.com (CRM) paced the laggards with a 5.5% drop.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,380.26) shed 94.8 points or 2.1% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 13,716.72) dropped 407.4 points or 2.9% for today's session.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 28.11) added 3.8 points or 15.7% for the day.

GOLD NABS MULTI-MONTH HIGH AMID GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS

Oil prices were sharply lower on Thursday, as investors weighed the prospects of more oil being released into the market as Iran nuclear talks seemingly progress. They were also keeping an eye on developments between Russia and Ukraine. March-dated crude shed $1.90, or 2%, to settle at $91.76 per barrel.

Gold prices surged, on the other hand, breaking past the $1,900 level to finish at their highest level since June. Tensions at Ukraine's border are still fueling investor interest in the safe-haven commodity. April-dated gold rose $30.50, or 1.6%, to finish at $1,902 per ounce.