S&P 500 at record high as Ukraine prepares for war with Russia

US stocks rose last week, the S&P 500 closing at a record high of 1,859.45 on Friday.

Stocks pulled back in the latter part of the trading session on Friday though as tensions rose in Ukraine.

Investors are likely to continue to focus on the Ukraine at the start of this week after developments over the weekend. From Reuters:

Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor in Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War.

“This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in English. Yatsenuik heads a pro-Western government that took power in the former Soviet republic when its Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted last week.

Putin secured permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine and told U.S. President Barack Obama he had the right to defend Russian interests and nationals, spurning Western pleas not to intervene.

Economic data over the weekend were also not positive for markets.

China's National Bureau of Statistics reported on Saturday that its manufacturing PMI fell to an eight-month low of 50.2 in February from 50.5 in January.