MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Slip As Ukraine Worries Weigh

By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)--U.S. stocks lost ground Thursday as investors focused on fresh Russia-Ukraine tensions, and reports of a Malaysia Airlines jet crashing in Ukraine.

The market also digested a mixed bag of company earnings and economic data. Microsoft shares surged on its plans to cut up to 18,000 jobs, but SanDisk, Mattel and AutoNation tumbled following disappointing earnings.

The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 9 points, or 0.5%, to 1,972. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 52 points, or 0.3%, to 17,086, erasing gains after the blue-chip index set an intraday record earlier in the session.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) shed 29 points, or 0.7%, to 4,397.

Investors woke up to renewed geopolitical risks after news that a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by missiles from a Russian plane. Then came reports that a Malaysia Airlines plane had crashed in Ukraine.

The U.S. also has unveiled a new round of sanctions against Russia, and the European Union said it would detail new sanctions against Russia by the end of this month. European stocks fell sharply on Thursday. Read: Russian stocks pounded after U.S. imposes new sanctions.

In U.S. economic news, reports on weekly jobless claims and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area came in better than expected. But construction on new U.S. homes was far weaker than expected, tumbling to the slowest pace in nine months.

"It appears that after strong gains in June, investors are using any excuse to take some money off the table. We had lackluster jobless claims and poor housing data and news out of Ukraine and Russia. But a 'buy the dip' mentality is still prevalent in this market," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Microsoft plans major layoffs, SanDisk results disappoint

In corporate news, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares rallied 0.7% after the tech company said it would cut 18,000 jobs over the next year in a bid to simplify operations and integrate its Nokia Devices and Services business. It also said it would take a restructuring charge between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion over the next year.

Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings on the back of gains from asset sales in its private-equity business. The shares rose 2.3%.

Mattel (MAT) shares fell 5.9% as quarterly earnings were dragged lower by muted sales of Barbie dolls.

SanDisk (SNDK) shares sank 12% after the flash-memory maker's third-quarter revenue forecast was lighter than anticipated. Read more about the day's notable movers here.

After trading closes Thursday, Google (GOOG) is expected to post earnings of $6.25 a share on revenue of $12.3 billion. Shares were down 1.1%. Read Need To Know: Janet Yellen might disagree, but Amazon tapped as screaming buy.

Investors will monitor comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who is slated to speak in Kentucky about monetary policy at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time. Bullard said in a Bloomberg interview last week that a continued decline in U.S. unemployment could push inflation above the Fed's 2% target by the end of 2015. Bullard isn't a voting member of the Fed's policy-making committee.

In other markets, gold futures (GCQ4) jumped, and oil also rose. Asian stocks overnight closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Average down 0.1%.

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