FINANCIAL MARKETS
Technology companies led U.S. stocks lower Wednesday, giving the market its biggest loss since early September. Grocery stores and packaged foods and beverage companies also accounted for much of the decline. Energy stocks fell as the price of crude oil closed lower a day after its biggest loss since October.
The latest slide extended the market’s losses from a day earlier and added to its pullback in November. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 14.25 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,564.62. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 138.19 points, or 0.6 percent, to 23,271.28. The Nasdaq composite slid 31.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,706.21. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 7.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,464.09.
The major indexes are all in the red for the month, but still near their most recent record highs. Stocks were headed lower from the get-go on Wednesday as investors weighed a batch of new government data on inflation, retail sales and manufacturing. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.2 percent in October, while a closely watched report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed manufacturing expanded at a slower pace this month in New York, but remained at a healthy level. In addition, the Labor Department said consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent last month, the smallest gain in three months. That followed a report earlier this week showing that prices at the wholesale level spiked last month. Investors were keeping an eye on Washington, where Senate Republicans began pushing their version of a major tax overhaul that would slash corporate taxes. But the Senate measure was complicated by the last-minute inclusion of a repeal of the section of the Affordable Care Act that requires Americans to get insurance coverage. The legislative push also appeared to hit a snag Wednesday, when Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he opposes the GOP tax bill, saying it helps corporations more than other businesses.
The VIX index, which tracks expected price swings in the S&P 500, jumped 13 percent Wednesday, a three-month high. The index closed at a record low as recently as Nov. 3.
Crude oil prices pared some of their early losses, but still finished lower.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 37 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $55.33 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 34 cents, or 0.5 percent, to close at $61.87 a barrel in London.
In other energy futures trading, wholesale gasoline gave up 2 cents to $1.74 a gallon. Heating oil was little changed at $1.91 a gallon. Natural gas declined 2 cents to $3.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.