Investing.com - Stocks pulled back modestly on Wednesday, dragged down by declines in energy and financial stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.38%. The Dow Jones industrials fell 0.17%. Stocks globally were mostly lower as well, especially stocks in China and Hong Kong because of trade concerns and unrest in Hong Kong.
The S&P 500's weak link was energy shares, especially oil-and-gas production and oil services companies as oil prices tumbled. Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) were among the most prominent decliners.
WTI futures were off 4% to $51.14 a barrel, the lowest close since January. Brent crude, the global benchmark, slumped 3.7%, or $2.32 a barrel to $59.97, its lowest close since Jan. 8, as traders worried about a global supply glut.
Meanwhile, the key 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.127% as interest rates mostly worked lower. Lower rates affected financial stocks. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) were among the losers. Goldman Sachs' 2.4% decline subtracted nearly 32 points from the Dow.
Toymaker Mattel jumped 5.27% after reporting it had received and rejected a takeover offer from privately held MGA Entertainment. The offer was the second from the maker of Bratz dolls. A price wasn't disclosed.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was off 1.7% after The Wall Street Journal published a report connecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg to questionable privacy practices at the social media giant.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell more than 3.6%. Part of the decline was profit-taking after a 20% run-up from the end of May until its annual meeting Tuesday afternoon. But analysts also were divided on whether the company can meet delivery and production targets in the months ahead.
Both companies are members of the Nasdaq 100 ondex, heavily influenced by big-tech companies.
The index was off 0.55% thanks to declines in such big stocks as Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Winners and Losers Among S&P Stocks
Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT), Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALXN) and Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) were among the top performers among S&P 500 stocks.
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG) and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) were among the weakest S&P 500 stocks on the day.