(CNBC) U.S. stocks declined on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 200 points, as worries mounted about China's economy and escalating tensions in Ukraine.
"The New York Times broke a story that Russian forces were conducting new military operations near the Ukrainian border. That news probably triggered the hard downside move in the averages, which had already given back a good part of the opening rally," Elliot Spar, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus, wrote in afternoon commentary.
And, Reuters cited banking and industry sources in reporting increasing concerns about the financial health of bloated industries in China have caused many banks to reduce lending in these sectors up to 20 percent.
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