Investing.com – Wall Street traded down on Wednesday as investors took profits after the prior session’s hefty gains and earnings reports disappointed, while oil prices jumped on a surprise crude inventory decline, the first in six weeks.
At 15:50GMT, or 11:50AM ET, the Dow Jones tumbled 116 points, or 0.65%, while the S&P 500 fell 9 points, or 0.43%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 14 points, or 0.30%.
Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 had booked their biggest gains since March 11 on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq rose the most since April 13, giving good cause for investors to take profits on dreary corporate news in a session with no major macro data.
Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) tumbled more than 4% , leading the losses on the blue-chip index, after the entertainment giant reported a rare miss after Tuesday’s closing bell as advertising and subscriptions declined at sports channel ESPN and theme park revenue came in weaker than expected.
Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL) plummeted 27% as the watch maker disappointed with its forecast for the current quarter.
Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) sank more than 13% after the department store chain reported mixed earnings and cut its full-year forecast.
Though Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ:WEN) handily beat Wall Street consensus with first quarter earnings, the fast-food chain warned of a second-quarter slowdown and shares slumped almost 7%.
A notable exception to Wednesday’s general rule was Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) whose shares jumped 14% as its earnings-per-share smashed through expectations.
In other business news, Office Depot Inc (NASDAQ:ODP) plunged more around 27% as the office supply retailer terminated plans for a $6.3 billion merger with Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) after a U.S. judge approved a request from the Federal Trade Commission for a temporary injunction based on antitrust concerns.
Meanwhile, black gold surged to intraday highs after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories unexpectedly fell by 3.41 million barrels in the week ended May 6. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock rise of 0.714 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures gained 2.73% to $45.88 a barrel by 15:53GMT, or 11:53AM ET, while Brent oil traded up 3.30% to $47.03.