Dow Slips Into the Red

The markets dropped into negative territory late in the trading day after being up most of the session prior to that, reports CNBC. In the end, the Dow fell 96 points to 33,794, the S&P fell 23 points to 4,363, and the Nasdaq fell 214 points to 13,537. Only the Nasdaq's loss exceeded 1%. As has been the case for a week, investors continued to digest news out of Ukraine and how it might affect the market. At one point, US crude prices ticked above $116 a barrel for the first time since 2008, per the Wall Street Journal. The price fell back to about $110 after that.

The AP notes that investors have another big factor to weigh on Friday—the jobs report for February. “What we're poised for is to really look hard at the jobs report tomorrow to see what the Fed needs to do and the state of the economy," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management. “Tomorrow’s average hourly earnings will provide a good read on inflation and whether consumers are able to keep up.” (More New York Stock Exchange stories.)