Roiling oil and financials send stocks south again
NEW YORK — Stocks fell Wednesday for the fourth time in five days on concern the Federal Reserve will fail to prevent a recession as oil climbed above $110 a barrel, pushing down refiners, retailers and banks.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 211 points from its midday high as oil rose. Sunoco Inc. dropped the most since 1995 after Caris & Co. said demand may decrease. Humana Inc. led shares of health insurers to a three-year low on a lower earnings forecast.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 11.88 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,308.77. The Dow slipped 46.57 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,110.24. The Nasdaq composite index decreased 11.89, or 0.5 percent, to 2,243.87.
Caterpillar Inc., the largest maker of bulldozers, led industrial shares higher after boosting its sales forecast.
The S&P 500 is down 16 percent from its Oct. 9 record.
Sunoco fell $4.22, or 7.3 percent, to $53.27. The refiner was downgraded to "below average" from "above average," along with Frontier Oil Corp., Holly Corp., and Tesoro Corp. Refiner Valero Energy Corp. was cut to "average" from "above average."
ConocoPhillips slid $1.18 to $78.32 after saying higher costs for services and equipment prompted it to reduce its production target.
Energy shares in the S&P 500 lost 1.5 percent as a group, even as oil climbed to a record while the dollar weakened to an all-time low against the euro.
Retailers fell on the rally in crude. RadioShack Corp., the third-largest U.S. electronics chain, dropped 82 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $15.40. Circuit City Stores Inc. fell 19 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $3.78 no fax payday loan. Macy’s Inc. retreated 78 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $23.20.
Humana tumbled $6.50, or 14 percent, to $40.88 after cutting its 2008 earnings forecast to a range of $4 to $4.25 a share from a previously projected $5.35 to $5.55.
UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, retreated $1.56 to $36.68.
Financial stocks reversed earlier gains after New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said in a Bloomberg Television interview that it’s "too early to say bonds insurers are out of the woods." MBIA Inc., the world’s biggest bond insurer, dropped 59 cents to $11.55. Ambac Financial Group Inc., the second-largest, fell 87 cents to $6.86. MGIC Investment Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage insurer, slid the most in the S&P 500, dropping $2.08, or 14 percent, to $12.92.
Northwest Airlines Corp. tumbled $1.98, or 16 percent, to $10.25. AMR plunged $1.36, or 13 percent, to $9.31. UAL Corp. fell $2.54, or 9.5 percent, to $24.29.
Delta Air Lines Inc. lost $1.98, or 16 percent, to $10.13. Continental Airlines Inc. declined $2.16 to $20.46.
Southwest Airlines Co. retreated 91 cents to $11.49 after grounding 41 of its Boeing 737s.
Caterpillar rose $2.64 to $75.25. The company increased its sales forecast for 2010 by 20 percent to $60 billion., exceeding analysts’ estimates, on growing demand from emerging markets.