Wall Street drops as Ukraine worries intensify; Dow falls 300 points

The S&P 500 lost 53.36 points, or 1.24%, to 4,251.4 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 234.72 points, or 1.75%, to 13,146.79

US stocks were sharply lower on Wednesday afternoon as Ukraine declared a state of emergency and the West unveiled more sanctions against Russia over its move into eastern Ukraine.

The US State Department said a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains potentially imminent, adding that Washington has not seen any indication of Russians backing away.

In a sign of a possible Russian military onslaught, Moscow began evacuating its Kyiv embassy. A sweeping cyberattack on Ukraine's state websites added to investor worries.

Nasdaq led the day's decline and was down about 1.8% in afternoon trading, while the information technology sector was the biggest drag on