US close: Markets slide as crude price plummets

US stocks fell back on Wednesday, as the price of crude oil fell sharply.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 153.49.30 points to 16,461.32, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.73% to 1,927.11 and the Nasdaq was down 36.83 points to 4,382.85.

Data released on Wednesday by the Labor Department showed the cost of living barely rose in September.

The headline consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.1% month-on-month in seasonally adjusted terms in September, slightly above expectations, while the core CPI increased by 0.1%, in line with consensus.

Headline inflation was pushed down by lower energy prices, which declined by 0.7%, while the 0.3% rise in food prices offset some of the softness in energy. On a year-on-year basis, the overall and core CPI were unchanged from the previous month at 1.7%.

“We maintain our view that although the recent drop in energy prices will likely lead to softer headline CPI over the coming quarters core CPI will likely remain solid, supported by rising shelter inflation,” Barclays analysts said in a note.

In corporate news, Boeing shares retreated by 4.46% despite beating profit expectations and lifting its earnings forecast for the year, while biotech firm Biogen Idec fell 5.42%, despite reporting better than expected third quarter results and lifting its full year earnings outlook.

Dow Chemical shares slid 1.24% even though the firm’s adjusted earnings of 72 cents a share came in above the consensus estimate of 67 cents and Yahoo rose 4.53% after delivering better than expected results late on Tuesday.

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals gained 7.17%, after the drug-maker announced it had started limited production of a new therapeutic drug against Ebola, which should be available by December of this year.

GFI Group edged forward 0.97% after BGC Partners announced plans to bid for its rival company, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, while Daimler fell 1.67% after selling its 4% stake in Tesla Motors late on Tuesday.

Gold futures dropped back to $1,241.80 while West Texas intermediate lost over two percentage points and closed at just over $80 a barrel.

The dollar gained ground against the pound, yen and euro.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose by one basis point to 2.23%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury note rose by the same margin to 3.00 and the yield on the five-year note moved up one basis points to 1.44.

S&P 500 - Risers
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $39.37 +5.46%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $41.99 +4.50%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $18.45 +3.07%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $12.32 +2.41%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $374.65 +2.37%
Robert Half International Inc. (RHI) $50.50 +2.29%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $29.18 +1.99%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $33.89 +1.99%
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $176.01 +1.97%
Gen Dynamics Corp. (GD) $126.31 +1.95%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $12.21 -7.50%
Ryder System Inc. (R) $81.17 -6.77%
Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS) $61.91 -5.44%
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $309.07 -5.42%
Discover Financial Services (DFS) $61.01 -5.23%
Amphenol Corp. (APH) $47.12 -5.13%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $10.31 -4.98%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $85.95 -4.94%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $107.38 -4.68%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $28.17 -4.54%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $95.58 +1.42%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $101.22 +0.86%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.51 +0.69%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $28.30 +0.07%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $76.03 +0.01%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $121.45 -4.46%
American Express Co. (AXP) $83.96 -1.96%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $176.83 -1.86%
3M Co. (MMM) $138.95 -1.40%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $94.57 -1.38%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $89.77 -1.30%
Visa Inc. (V) $210.92 -1.12%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $44.38 -1.11%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $23.26 -1.06%
General Electric Co. (GE) $25.19 -1.02%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $39.37 +5.46%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $41.99 +4.50%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $184.82 +2.94%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $374.65 +2.37%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $33.89 +1.99%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $29.98 +1.52%
Google Inc. Class C (GOOG) $532.72 +1.17%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $39.66 +0.99%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $384.46 +0.91%
Google Inc. (GOOGL) $542.69 +0.87%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) $309.07 -5.42%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $34.89 -3.74%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $41.72 -3.45%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $112.75 -3.31%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $50.36 -3.24%
Equinix Inc. (EQIX) $200.46 -3.18%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $481.51 -2.88%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $32.76 -2.70%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $41.51 -2.54%
Liberty Media Corporation - Class A (LMCA) $45.02 -2.49%