Reports of fighting in Ukraine erase Wall Street gains

NEW YORK - Reports of renewed fighting in Ukraine knocked the stock market lower Friday. Major indexes headed higher at the start of trading, then sank following news that Ukrainian soldiers attacked a Russian military convoy. U.S. government bond prices jumped as investors sought safety, driving the yield on the 10-year note to its lowest level this year.

As of 11:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 125 points to 16,589. It had climbed 61 points in early trading.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 12 points to 1,943. The Nasdaq composite was down 21 points at 4,432.

Monster Beverage soared 30 percent following news that Coca-Cola plans to pay $2 billion for a stake in the maker of caffeinated drinks. The deal comes as Coca-Cola's flagship soda business is flagging and "energy drinks" have become popular. Monster jumped $21.59 to $93.28 in early trading.

Nordstrom reported a slight drop in earnings as well as sales that fell just short of analysts' estimates. The department-store's stock slid $2.84, or 4 percent, to $65.85.

Germany's DAX sank 1 percent on the Ukraine news. Germany's has economic ties with Russia. France's CAC 40 fell 0.3 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares gained 0.5 percent.

Earlier, Asian markets capped one of their best weeks in months with further gains across most of the main indexes. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.6 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent.

"This week is a powerful answer to the question of whether equity markets had run too far and were still vulnerable," said David White, a trader at Spreadex. "Investors still have confidence, but are now more price-sensitive as capital becomes less cheap."

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.34 percent, down from 2.40 percent late Thursday. Crude oil rose $1.07 to $96.65 a barrel.