US close: Stock retreat as investors show Brexit caution
US stocks gave up their earlier gains to finish in the red as worries about the UK referendum on EU membership spread across the Atlantic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.27% to end at 17,780.83, the S&P 500 lost 0.17% to 2,085.45 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.22% to 4,833.32.
At the same time, oil prices slipped into the red after data from the Energy Information Administration showed US crude inventories fell by 900,000 barrels last week, which was a smaller drop than expected.
West Texas Intermediate was down 0.3% to $49.68 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.4% at $50.42.
The dollar was down 0.26% versus the pound to $1.4690 after two online opinion polls, from TNS and Opinium, showed lead for the Vote Leave campaign.
John Caruso, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, said the unpredictable narrative was difficult for the market: "I expect the news to change and the story to change 10 more times between today and tomorrow."
"Brexit is an iceberg," said Douglas Borthwick, managing director of Tullett Prebon's Chapdelaine FX in New York.
While a win for Remain would not worry investors, a potential Leave was the worry as "none of us can fathom how deep it goes under the surface… And therein lies the problem."
Aside from the issue of Brexit, investors were digesting more comments from Yellen as she delivered the second part of her two-day testimony before Congress after she reiterated a cautious approach to hiking interest rates on Tuesday.
Yellen said on Tuesday that she sees “considerable uncertainty” over the US economic outlook, also highlighting the potential impact of the UK referendum.
“In the current environment of sluggish growth, low inflation, and already very accommodative monetary policy in many advanced economies, investor perceptions of and appetite for risk can change abruptly,” Yellen said. “One development that could shift investor sentiment is the upcoming referendum in the United Kingdom. A UK vote to exit the European Union could have significant economic repercussions.”
On the corporate front, Tesla Motors slumped nearly 9% after the electric car maker made an offer for SolarCity Corp. Shares in the latter surged.
Shares in motor homes manufacturer Winnebago Industries gained after its third-quarter profit came in better than expected.
McDonald's chomped down 1.5% as a big weight on the Dow as all but six constituents fell. Nomura downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on expectations of weaker sales.
Data out earlier from the National Association of Realtors showed sales of existing US homes rose to a nine-year high in May.
Sales were up 1.8% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.53m from a downwardly revised 5.43m in April. This was a touch weaker than economists had expected.
Sales were up 4.5% from May 2015, at their highest annual pace since February 2007. Meanwhile, the median price for a home rose 4.7% from last May to $239,700.
S&P 500 - Risers
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $42.88 +4.92%
Csra Inc. (CSRA) $24.37 +2.83%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $38.74 +2.68%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $26.97 +2.63%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $35.72 +2.56%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $99.23 +2.45%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $79.59 +2.21%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $351.92 +1.96%
News Corp Class B (NWS) $12.06 +1.69%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $134.84 +1.64%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $94.01 -5.73%
HP Inc (HPQ) $12.61 -5.40%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $13.47 -4.67%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $156.51 -4.54%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $20.76 -4.20%
Carmax Inc. (KMX) $46.50 -3.41%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $19.21 -2.78%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $34.05 -2.74%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $93.81 -2.74%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $5.09 -2.40%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $57.04 +1.40%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $68.07 +0.77%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.75 +0.41%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $116.46 +0.24%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.57 +0.19%
Boeing Co. (BA) $131.77 +0.19%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $120.62 -1.64%
Visa Inc. (V) $76.53 -1.03%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $102.29 -0.92%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.47 -0.81%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $111.83 -0.79%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $152.92 -0.73%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $44.86 -0.60%
American Express Co. (AXP) $61.95 -0.55%
General Electric Co. (GE) $30.78 -0.52%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $91.17 -0.39%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $99.23 +2.45%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $351.92 +1.96%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $140.89 +1.32%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,360.25 +1.28%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $82.18 +1.18%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $85.65 +1.17%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $40.10 +1.16%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $78.50 +1.16%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $44.03 +1.15%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $75.59 +1.12%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $196.66 -10.45%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $94.01 -5.73%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $121.41 -2.20%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $78.96 -1.50%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $24.34 -1.46%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $106.45 -1.34%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $57.38 -1.19%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $90.01 -1.08%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $48.35 -1.06%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $104.44 -0.95%