The Associated Press

Stocks finished sharply lower Thursday as investors worried about an escalation of tensions between Russia and the West following the downing of a passenger plane in eastern Ukraine.

Poor corporate earnings and a weak indicator for the housing market also unsettled investors, prompting many to snap up assets perceived as being less risky like gold and U.S. government bonds.

On Thursday:

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 161.39 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 16,976.81.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 23.45 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,958.12.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 62.52 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,363.45.

For the week:

The Dow is up 33 points, or 0.2 percent.

The S&P 500 is down 9.45 points, or 0.5 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 52.04 points, or 1.2 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is up 400.15 points, or 2.4 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 109.76 points, or 5.9 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 186.86 points, or 4.5 percent.

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