The Dow Jones fell 0.29% to 33,794.66 points, the Nasdaq index lost 1.56% to 13,537.94 points, and the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.53% to 4,363. .49 points.
"It's hard for US equity markets to keep their momentum going because of the madness and uncertainty," said Karl Haeling of LBBW Bank.
The second round of negotiations, organized on Thursday, ended without progress on a ceasefire or a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Ukrainian and Russian emissaries nevertheless agreed on the establishment of humanitarian corridors.
According to French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, "the worst is yet to come" in this war and the Russian head of state wants to "take control" of all of Ukraine.
"It smacks of escalation," observed National Security's Art Hogan.
"It seems less likely" that the crisis will be resolved quickly.
Investors "are cautious", abounded, in a note, the analysts of Schwab, and wonder about the consequences on the world economy of the conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Not to mention, they added, "commodity prices have exploded and could stoke the already scorching inflation."
"The longer you stay at high levels (of commodity prices) the more it affects the economy," added Art Hogan.
The renewed anxiety was also reflected in the bond market, where the rate of 10-year US government bonds fell slightly to 1.84%, against 1.87% the day before.
The drop in interest rates, which move in the opposite direction to bond prices, testifies to investors' appetite for the assets considered to be the safest.
In this tense context, growth stocks were targeted, from the semiconductor manufacturer AMD (-5.33%) to the manufacturer Tesla (-4.61%), via PayPal (-4.94% ).
Conversely, oil companies took advantage of the very high level of crude oil prices, from Chevron (+1.35%) to ExxonMobil (+0.63%).
Steelmakers US Steel (+6.90%) and Cleveland-Cliffs (+7.58%) also benefited from the hot commodity prices.
The so-called defensive values, that is to say the least exposed to the economic situation, were also popular with investors, such as Walmart (+2.30%) or the construction machinery group Caterpillar (+1.16 %).
Elsewhere, cloud data storage company Snowflake fell (-15.37% to $224.02) after posting a heavy quarterly loss as analysts expected a small profit.
The group also expects sales to be significantly below market expectations for the first quarter.
The chain of electronics stores Best Buy was hailed (+9.22% to 110.14 dollars), after the publication of a net profit above expectations, even if the turnover came out below expectations. forecasts.
The Ralph Lauren house fell (-3.04% to 124.57 dollars), the day after the revelation of the upcoming departure of its sales manager, dismissed for actions "in violation" of the company's internal regulations, without more precision.
© 2022 AFP