US close: Stocks end in the red as oil prices slump
Stocks on Wall Street ended in the red on Wednesday as oil prices slumped after data showed an unexpected rise in US crude inventories.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed 0.7% lower, while the Nasdaq fell 0.8%.
The recovery in oil prices proved fleeting as they resumed their slide following a brief respite on Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate was down 3% to $36.73 per barrel and Brent crude was 3.2% lower at $36.58 per barrel, after data from the US Department of Energy’s statistical arm showed that in the week ending 25 December, stockpiles of commercial US crude oil rose by 2.6m barrels from the previous week to 487.4m. Analysts had been expecting a drop of 1m barrels.
Other factors also weighed on oil. Late on Tuesday, a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed an increase of nearly 3m barrels in crude supplies in the week ended 25 December.
Forecasts that a cold snap in Europe could be short-lived also dented oil prices.
Meanwhile, comments from the International Monetary Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde did little to help the overall tone.
In a guest article for German daily Handelsblatt, she said global economic growth will be "disappointing" next year.
"In many countries the financial sector still has weaknesses and in emerging markets the financial risks are increasing. All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016," she said, pointing to low productivity, ageing populations and the effects of the global financial crisis.
In corporate news, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals dropped after the company, which is majority-owned by biotech investor Martin Shkreli, filed for bankruptcy.
Pep Boys - Manny Moe and Jack slumped as it emerged the group will be bought by Carl Icahn for $1bn, ending a bidding war with Japan's Bridgestone.
Amazon and Google parent Alphabet Inc slipped after shares reached a record close on Tuesday.
On the macroeconomic front, figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed US pending home sales fell in November for the third time in four months.
The NAR’s pending home sales index nudged down 0.9% to 106.9 from an upwardly-revised 107.9 in October, missing analysts’ expectation for a 0.5% increase.
Sales were 2.7% higher compared with the same month last year, but this was the smallest annual increase in over a year.
In currency markets, the dollar was flat against the pound and the yen and just 0.1% lower versus the euro.
S&P 500 - Risers
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $104.28 +1.36%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $44.93 +1.35%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $66.99 +0.87%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $71.58 +0.69%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $59.80 +0.59%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $98.06 +0.52%
Accenture Plc (ACN) $105.86 +0.51%
Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) $36.40 +0.50%
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) $46.67 +0.32%
CMS Energy Corp. (CMS) $36.68 +0.30%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $6.30 -6.80%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $22.94 -6.60%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $7.78 -5.58%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $12.38 -4.99%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $11.09 -3.98%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $30.28 -3.93%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.40 -3.93%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $17.01 -3.90%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $31.00 -3.85%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $32.22 -3.53%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $61.68 +0.11%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Nike Inc. (NKE) $63.25 -1.57%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $78.11 -1.33%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $107.32 -1.31%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $90.09 -1.27%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.99 -1.27%
Visa Inc. (V) $78.35 -1.09%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.77 -0.93%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.53 -0.86%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $182.01 -0.83%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $118.92 -0.75%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $40.44 +0.47%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $238.09 +0.38%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $44.25 +0.18%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $37.31 +0.13%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $76.07 +0.13%
Liberty Interactive Corporation QVC Group (QVCA) $27.18 +0.13%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $37.18 +0.08%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $61.09 +0.05%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $62.25 +0.05%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $150.24 +0.05%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $68.64 -2.11%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $116.71 -2.02%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $60.63 -1.97%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $33.37 -1.97%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $32.08 -1.75%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $42.80 -1.61%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $191.07 -1.60%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $18.96 -1.56%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $82.36 -1.55%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $79.19 -1.54%