US stocks sink on Malaysia Arilines crash

NEW YORK - US stocks tumbled Thursday after a Malaysian airliner crashed in rebel-held east Ukraine in an incident that some Ukrainians blamed on pro-Russia separatist forces.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 161.48 points (0.94 per cent) to 16,976.72.

The broad-based S&P 500 plummeted 23.41 (1.18 per cent) to 1,958.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 62.52 (1.41 per cent) at 4,363.45.

There were no signs of survivors from the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was carrying 295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said he could not rule out that the plane was shot down. Poroshenko's official spokesman said he believed pro-Russia insurgents downed the jet.

"This incident is not a catastrophe. It is a terrorist act," Poroshenko's spokesman posted on Twitter.