Wall street sinks on escalating geopolitical tension

U.S. stocks recorded heavy losses on Thursday for the third session in a row as geopolitical risks continue to weigh on the market sentiment.

Investors have been seeking refuge in safer assets throughout the week amid rising tensions in Syria and North Korea and today, news of the United States dropping the biggest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan hurt the sentiment even more. On a bright note, North Korea's 'big event' wound up to be a street opening.

Kate Warne, the principal investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, told Reuters that investors from the rest of the world are putting more money in U.S. Treasuries due to geopolitical concerns. The 10-year Treasury bond yield slipped 2.8% to 2.23% on Thursday.

One of the biggest commercial banks in the U.S., Wells Fargo, announced a drop in mortgage banking revenue, triggering a broad sell-off in the financial sector and dragging the S&P 500 lower. The S&P 500 fell 13.75 points, or 0.6%, to 2,327, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 138.61 points, or 0.67%, to 20,453.25 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31 points, or 0.53%, to 5,805.15.

Headlines from the U.S. session

• US Dollar consolidates gains below 100.50
• U.S. military has dropped a 21,000-pound bomb in Afghanistan - CNN
• Monetary policy is important, but US fiscal stance moving center stage - BBH
• US PPI: Down in March as energy recovery pauses - Wells Fargo
• US: Consumer sentiment inched upward in early April - UoM
• Deal with N. Korea or we will - Trump to China