Dow loses 86 points, barely in black for '15
An early rally on Wall Street quickly evaporated Wednesday, as the combination of rising oil prices and higher interest rates took a toll on stocks for a second straight session.
After rallying more than 90 points in the opening minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average did an abrupt about-face and dived into the red, losing triple digits. By the closing bell it had moved off session lows to end down 86 points.
The Dow now stands at 17,841.98 -- just a few points in the black for 2015. It ended 2014 at 17,823.07.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite closed down 0.4%.
Oil prices jumped above $61 a barrel as U.S. benchmark rose 2.1% to $61.65 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as concerns about rising demand and easing supply stoked the recent rally in crude prices.
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The latest news on the jobs front added to the general angst.
Businesses added just 169,000 jobs in April, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday. Economists had expected 198,000 new jobs.
ADP revised down its March report to 175,000 jobs from 189,000.The survey measures only private employment and excludes government hiring.
The jobs trend has been downward since November.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that stock values are elevated but don't pose excessive risk to the economy and financial system. "Equity market values are quite high," Yellen told International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a conference on finance sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Lagarde asked Yellen if near-zero interest rates are "distorting incentives and leading to a buildup of risk to financial stability." Yellen responded that "it is true that a low-interest rate environment increases the need to be sensitive and watchful for risks to financial stability,"
Yet even as Yellen spoke, U.S. interest rates continued their recent steady climb. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note was at 2.24%, up from 2.18% on Tuesday, following a global trend of surging yields.
Earlier, Asian stock markets were down Wednesday, dented by weak earnings in Australia and doubts about Greece's ability to repay debts due to the IMF this month. Chinese markets turned lower after a brief rebound from the previous day's sell-off.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.6%. Japanese markets were closed Wednesday.
European shares were slightly higher as Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1% and Germany's DAX index gained 0.2%.
Contributing: David Carrig, Associated Press