Stocks drop as earnings disappoint

The stock market fell sharply Friday, dragged down by disappointing quarterly results from Amazon and Ford. Escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine also weighed on the market.

Worried investors sold their risky assets and moved into the traditional safe havens: bonds, gold and stocks such as utilities that pay high dividends.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 15.21 points, or 0.8%, to 1,863.40. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 140.19 points, or 0.9%, to 16,361.46 and Nasdaq lost 72.78 points, or 1.8%, to 4,075.56.

Friday’s sell-off was enough to push the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq into the red for the week.

Technology stocks, which have been volatile for the last two months, were again a hotbed of selling.

Amazon, the world’s largest online store, sank $33.32, or 10%, to $303.83. Amazon reported an increase in firstquarter profit late Thursday, but the company also said that spending on investments is likely to lead to an operating loss in the second quarter.

The retail giant dragged the rest of the technology sector lower, making it one of the worst performing sectors in the S&P 500. Netflix fell more than 6%, Priceline lost 5%, Facebook fell 5% and Twitter lost more than 7%.

Investors have had little patience for companies missing their forecasts this quarter, said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman.

“The market is in a precarious position at the moment and overreacts to bad news far more than it did last year,” Clemons said.

For a second day, the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine weighed on U.S. investor sentiment.

Investments thought to be less risky were among the few assets to rise Friday. Bond prices rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.66% from 2.68% on Thursday. Gold rose $10.20, or 0.8%, to $1,300.80 an ounce.

Visa fell $10.47, or 5%, to $198.93 after it warned that the U.S. sanctions were causing Russian banks to use other companies to process payments.