GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks fall, bonds rise on Ukraine tensions

In Europe, the pan-regional STOXX 600 share index retreated from initial gains to close down 0.81%, with travel and banking shares leading the decline. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.85%, down almost 7% this year. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.68%, the S&P 500 lost 0.72% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.23%. All but one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors fell, with the exception being consumer staples, which do well in economic downturns.

NEW YORK: A gauge of global stocks fell and government debt prices rose on Friday after hopes that diplomacy might resolve the Ukraine crisis faded on news Russian-backed separatists were evacuating residents from breakaway regions in the country's east.

Sentiment soured as shelling increased in eastern Ukraine and a rebel leader announced the surprise evacuation, a surprise development in a conflict the West suspects Russia will use to justify an all-out invasion of its neighbor.