Worrying investors, the Dow experiences its worst decline of 2022 with a drop of over 600 points amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its worst daily performance of the year as stocks slumped amid heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Investors were left confused and began dumping risky assets, shifting their focus to bonds.

The blue-chip average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all experienced significant declines on the trading day, with the blue-chip average losing 1.8%, the S&P 500 losing 2.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite losing 2.9%.

Yung-Yu Ma, BMO Wealth Management's chief investment strategist, stated that the market is currently moving based on indications that it is seeing negativity and additional cloud over it, which has a significant weight.

Despite U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's warning that Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now," stocks plummeted last Friday. However, stocks rebounded earlier this week after tensions seemed to ease with the Russian Ministry of Defense announcing it was withdrawing troops from the Ukraine border.

On Thursday, markets were gripped by fear as President Joe Biden warned of a "very high" threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying an attack could occur "within the next several days."

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has reached a critical juncture, with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations stating that Russia is on the brink of an imminent invasion. Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused pro-Russian separatists of attacking a village near the border.

On Thursday, the VanEck Russia exchange-traded fund experienced a decline of approximately 5% in value.

The S&P 500 sectors, particularly technology, experienced a broad-based sell-off Thursday.

Defensive stocks, commonly referred to as consumer staples, experienced a nearly 1% increase in value, making them the top-performing sector.

After a quarterly report that exceeded expectations and maintained guidance, Walmart's shares increased by 4%, making it the leader in the consumer staples sector.

As bond prices increased, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield decreased below 2%, while gold futures rose by more than 1%.

Investors also digested a slew of corporate earnings reports.

Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments, stated that the market is facing not one but two challenges: geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and an earnings minefield.

Despite a better-than-expected earnings report, Nvidia fell 7.5% as the chip maker's first-quarter gross margin guidance came in slightly lower than analysts expected. Meanwhile, Palantir sank 15.8% after the company missed profit expectations.

Cisco's stock price increased by 2.7% after the company exceeded expectations and raised its guidance. DoorDash's shares surged by 10.7% following the release of better-than-anticipated revenue and order figures.

The number of weekly jobless claims increased to 248,000, surpassing the predicted 218,000 and rising from the previous week. On the other hand, housing permits for January experienced an unexpected increase, but housing starts did not meet expectations.

For the week, all three major averages are in negative territory.

—CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed to this report.