Stocks fall amid growth concerns

Concerns about slowing global growth and rising tensions between Russia and the West pushed stocks lower Thursday.

The S&P 500 index fell 10.67 points, or 0.6%, to 1,909.57. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 75.07 points, or 0.5%, to 16,368.27. The Nasdaq composite sank 20.08 points, or 0.5%, to 4,334.97.

Phone and Internet companies were among the biggest decliners. Windstream Holdings fell 39 cents, or 3.4%, to $11.16 after the company reported that its earnings fell 64% in the second quarter. The results missed analysts’ expectations.

Eight of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 fell. Healthcare and phone company stocks dropped the most, 1.2% and 1%, respectively. Utilities stocks rose 1.1%, making them the biggest gainers, as investors bought safer assets.

21st Century Fox rose $1.63, or 5%, to $33.96 after it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings late Wednesday.

The company got a boost from films including “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Rio 2” and “The Fault in Our Stars.”

The company was adding to gains from a day earlier after dropping its bid for Time Warner and announcing a stock buyback.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which falls when prices rise, dropped to 2.41% from 2.47% on Wednesday. The yield on the note is at its lowest level in more than a year.

In commodities trading, the price of oil rose Thursday for only the second time in the last nine sessions.

There are concerns about intensifying violence in Iraq as the White House weighs air strikes to counter recent advances by insurgents.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 42 cents to $97.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for interna- tional oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 85 cents to $105.44 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gold rose $4.30 to $1,312.50 an ounce and silver fell 3 cents to $19.99 an ounce. Copper rose a penny to $3.18 a pound.