Stocks have moved sharply lower during trading on Wednesday, giving back ground following the significant rebound seen in the previous sessions. The major averages have all shown significant moves back to the downside.<\/p>\n
Currently, the major averages are off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Dow is down 460.81 points or 1.4 percent at 31,694.59, the Nasdaq is down 103.96 points or 0.9 percent at 11,324.19 and the S&P 500 is down 49.65 points or 1.3 percent at 3,869.64.<\/p>\n
Ongoing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector have contributed to the pullback on Wall Street following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.<\/p>\n
Shares of Credit Suisse (CS) are seeing substantial weakness after a report from Reuters said Saudi National Bank, the bank’s largest investor, could not provide any more funding.<\/p>\n
On the economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of February.<\/p>\n
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand slipped by 0.1 percent in February after rising by a downwardly revised 0.3 percent in January.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.7 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
The report also showed the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 4.6 percent in February from 5.7 percent in January. The year-over-year growth was expected to slow to 5.4 percent.<\/p>\n
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales pulled back by slightly more than expected in the month of February.<\/p>\n
The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.4 percent in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.2 percent in January.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected retail sales to decrease by 0.3 percent compared to the 3.0 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
Steel stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 5.6 percent to its lowest intraday level in two months.<\/p>\n
Significant weakness is also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 5.3 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The sell-off by oil service stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.<\/p>\n
Airline, banking and chemical stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.<\/p>\n