Energy firms lead broad stock drop

U.S. stocks fell for the third day in a row as energy companies tumbled along with the price of crude oil. Investors also sold high-dividend stocks as bond yields rose. Healthcare and technology firms moved up.

Crude oil prices fell 5%, their biggest drop in more than a year, after the government reported a big buildup in fuel stockpiles.

A survey by payroll firm ADP showed that private companies added the most jobs in three years in February, a sign of stronger economic growth. That helped send bond prices lower and yields higher.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 2.56% from 2.52%.

Federal Reserve policymakers will meet next week, and investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time since December. Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust, said long-term bond yields could reach roughly 3% in a few months.

Stocks that pay big dividends took a hit. Utility holding company PG&E fell 1.7% to $65.16 and Realty Income dropped 3.6% to $57.70.

The Energy Information Administration said oil reserves grew by 8 million barrels last week, far more than expected. Benchmark U.S. crude sank 5.4% to $50.28 a barrel, its lowest since late November. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 5% to $53.11 a barrel.

Energy stocks are already lagging behind the overall the market in 2017, and on Wednesday the 13 biggest losers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index all came from the energy industry. Marathon Oil sank 8.7% to $14.87.

Almost three-fourths of the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange fell.

Banks, which have skyrocketed since the November election, finished little changed despite the jump in bond yields. Industrial companies declined. Caterpillar fell 2.8% to $93.23 as a government investigation into its taxes and accounting remained in the news. Smaller, domestically focused companies also fell.

Medical device and equipment makers moved up slightly, and biotechnology companies bounced partway back from sharp losses a day earlier.

Snap rose 6.4% to $22.81 as the Snapchat app maker recovered some of its losses from the last two days. It has experienced some steep ups and downs since its stockmarket debut last week.

The dollar rose to 114.42 yen from 114.05 yen. The euro fell to $1.0548 from $1.0568.

Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.65 a gallon. Heating oil fell 6 cents to $1.56 a gallon. Natural gas rose 8 cents to $2.90 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold fell $6.70 to $1,209.40 an ounce. Silver fell 24 cents to $17.30 an ounce. Copper fell 2 cents to $2.60 a pound.