U.S. stocks were sharply down Friday, after Israel launched strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. But major benchmarks were off their morning lows.

Ten of the eleven S&P 500 sector indices closed lower, with financials leading the decline, falling 2.06%, followed by a 1.5% drop in the information technology sector. Declining stocks outnumbered advancers on the S&P 500 by a ratio of 6.