Stocks Slide, Oil Rises Above $110

An afternoon slide saw stocks erase early gains to close in the red. The Dow fell -49.57, the Nasdaq Composite -11.89, and the S&P 500 -11.88.

Crude oil rose above $110 per barrel, another record high, as the dollar fell to a record low versus the euro.

Airline stocks witnessed heavy selling on Wednesday; Alaska Air
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fell -18.4%, Delta Air Lines
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dropped -16.4%, and Northwest Airlines
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lost -16.2%. AMR Corp. and Continental Airlines declined -12.8% and -9.6% respectively.

Humana
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fell nearly 14% after the company lowered guidance.

Southwest Airlines
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dropped -7.3% after the company grounded 41 planes.

Caterpillar
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gained 3.6% after the company issued guidance in-line with estimates.

Market Snapshot

Dow

-49.57 12110.24

NASDAQ

-11.89 2243.87

S&P 500

-11.88 1308.77

Economic
News

Treasury Budget (Feb): Actual -$175.6B, Consensus -$170.0B