NEW YORK: Stocks fell sharply Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index ending lower for a fourth consecutive trading session, after aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. cut its global demand outlook and Chevron Corp. warned of lower earnings.
The S&P 500 index declined 8.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 1,432.56.
The major indexes retained the bulk of their losses after the release of the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” of economic conditions, which found modest expansion since the prior report.
The information “is nothing we don’t already know nationally with just regional differentiation of note,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said in an emailed comment.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 128.56 points, or 1 percent, to close at 13,344.97, dropping for a third trading session.
The Nasdaq composite retreated 13.24 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 3,051.78.