US stocks reverse big losses as investors navigate Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• The US stock market reversed big losses and traded higher on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine.
• The Nasdaq 100 briefly fell as much as 3% and entered bear market territory before it jumped as much as 3%.
• Investors are navigating the economic implication of Russia's invasion and subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia by western countries.

The Nasdaq 100 soared as much as 3% on Thursday after it briefly fell 3% and entered bear-market territory following Russia's launch of a full-scale attack against Ukraine.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia happened in the early morning hours on Thursday and led to missiles hitting airports and military bases across the country. Investors had initially de-risked their portfolios and sold stocks throughout Thursday morning, but stocks staged sharp reversals after President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia.

"This morning, I met with my G7 counterparts to discuss President Putin's unjustified attack on Ukraine and we agreed to move forward on devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account," President Joe Biden said.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,288.65, up 1.49%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,222.88, up 0.28% (91.12 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 13,473.58, up 3.34%

The Russian MOEX stock market saw the worst of the pain after the start of the invasion, with the index crashing as much as 50% on Thursday. The Russian stock market saw more than $250 billion in market value wiped out, and the Russian central bank implemented a ban on short-selling in an attempt to stem the decline.

Yandex is one Russian stock that saw big downside on Thursday. The Nasdaq listed company, which is considered the Google of Russia, fell as much as 59% and wiped out more than $7 billion in market value.

With oil prices surging and tech stocks crumbling, Jamie Cox of Harris Financial Group thinks now is an opportune time for investors who own oil stocks to rebalance their portfolio.

"Investors with energy and commodity exposure should consider using this spike in prices to rebalance into heavily beaten down software names, particularly in the area of cybersecurity," Cox told Insider.

The Russia invasion also has implications for the Federal Reserve, according to Cox, who now sees a 25 basis point interest rate hike being cemented in March rather than a 50 basis point rate hike. Expectations for a more dovish Fed could be aiding Thursday's rally in risk-assets, and Mohamed El-Erian thinks aggressive rate hikes are now "off the table."

The SEC is reportedly investigating whether Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal violated insider trading rules related to Kimbal's $108 million sale of Tesla stock late last year.

Unlike gold, bitcoin was not immune to the sharp drop in risk assets on Thursday. The popular cryptocurrency fell as much as 9% to $34,584 after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 7.63% to $99.13 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped as much as 7.72 % to $104.32 per barrel.

Gold fell as much as 0.94% to $1,892.50 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell 3 basis points to 1.97%.