A turbulent day of trading on Wall Street ended Wednesday with a fifth-consecutive loss for the benchmark S&P 500 index.
An early rally drove major indexes sharply higher but was gone by midday, leaving the market headed lower for the rest of the day. The Dow Jones industrial average swung from a high of 214 points to a low of 350 before the sell-off eased somewhat by late afternoon.
The S&P 500 index fell 20.60 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,701.58. The Dow lost 205.99 points, or 0.8 percent, to 25,080.50. The Nasdaq composite dropped 64.48 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,138.39. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 12.30 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,502.51.
Technology companies, banks and insurers fared the worst, their losses outweighing gains in other sectors.
Bond prices rose as traders shifted money into low-risk assets. That pulled yields down, which hurts banks by driving interest rates on loans lower. Energy stocks rebounded as crude oil prices snapped a 12-day losing streak. Precious metals also rose.
"We're still ... contending with the implications of the sell-off from October," said David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management. "The market is still somewhat unsettled and somewhat volatile as investors digest that move and reposition for what they think will happen next."
For the second-straight day, stocks looked as if they were headed for a rebound early Wednesday. But the wave of buying didn't hold.
Bond prices, which had been declining, also began climbing as traders favored safe-haven assets. That sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 3.12 percent from 3.14 percent late Tuesday.
The drop in bond yields, which affect interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans, helped pull bank shares lower. Citizens Financial Group dropped 3.9 percent to $36.21.
Several big insurers also fell sharply. Progressive slumped 9.5 percent to $64.80.
A rebound in oil and gas prices helped boost energy stocks. Cimarex Energy climbed 2.6 percent to $86.57.
Technology sector companies took some of the heaviest losses. Apple dropped 2.8 percent to $186.80.
On the other end of the spectrum, media and communications companies led the gainers in the S&P 500. Comcast rose 1.5 percent to $38.29.
Shares in Pacific Gas & Electric had their steepest drop since 2002, sinking 21.8 percent to $25.59. The losses extended the electric utility's steep slide this week. The company told regulators last week that it experienced a problem on a transmission line in an area of Northern California where a deadly wildfire broke out last week. People who lost homes in the blaze sued the utility Tuesday, accusing it of negligence and blaming it for the fire. Pacific Gas & Electric's slide led a broad sell-off in utilities stocks.
Investors also had an eye on the latest batch of company earnings Wednesday.
Macy's tumbled 7.2 percent to $33.22 as traders grew concerned that the department-store chain may have difficulty keeping up its streak of sales gains, even after the company raised its annual earnings expectations.
Blue Apron shares declined 4.1 percent to $1.17 after the meal kit shipping company issued a disappointing fourth-quarter outlook and said it is taking "strategic actions" that included slashing 4 percent of its workforce.
Canada Goose Holdings jumped 10 percent to $64.45 after the high-end coat-maker reported earnings and revenue that beat analysts' forecasts.
Business on 11/15/2018