Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday staging a dramatic reversal late in the session to extend one of the worst starts to a year for the major indices in nearly a quarter-century.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 364.81 or 2.21% to 16,151.41, dropping to nearly its lowest level since early-October, while the NASDAQ Composite index fell 159.85 or 3.41% to 4,526.07, as heavy losses in Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN) and Netflix Inc (O:NFLX) weighed. Major losses in the pharmaceutical industry also dragged down markets in general, as the NASDAQ IBB Biotech ETF posted its eighth loss in the last 10 sessions, falling to its lowest level since late-August. The massive sell-off in U.S. equities mirrored the reversal on energy markets, as oil turned negative on Wednesday morning, after a bearish supply report indicated that U.S. crude inventories rose slightly last week. Earlier on Wednesday, crude prices shot up by as much as 3.5% after the American Petroleum Institute reported a draw of nearly 4.0 million barrels in crude stockpiles last week.
The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, lost 48.40 or 2.50% to 1,890.28, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Health Care, Consumer Discretionary and Technology industries lagged, each falling by more than 2.5% on the session. The S&P 500 dipped below the 1,900 level for the first time since October. The Dow and the S&P 500 are each down more than 7% in 2016.
The top performer on the Dow was Exxon Mobil Corporation (N:XOM), which gained 0.54 or 0.72% to 75.74 in spite of the continual downturn in oil. ExxonMobil (N:XOM), which is down more than 18% over the last year, may have hit a bottom. The worst performer was Home Depot Inc (N:HD), which lost 6.03 or 4.73% to 121.46. On Tuesday, Home Depot (N:HD) criticized U.S. president Barack Obama ahead of the State of the Union address on policies which he said benefit Wall Street banks and major oil companies, but make it challenging for working families to prosper. ExxonMobil finished the session as the only Dow component to close in the green.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Intuitive Surgical Inc (O:ISRG), which added 3.02 or 0.56% to 545.14, after the California-based robotic surgical manufacturer improved it fourth-quarter revenue projections. The worst performer was Incyte Corporation (O:INCY), which plunged 9.67 or 10.98% to 78.42, amid continuing worries on its collaborative study with Merck (N:MRK) related to Melanoma treatment. Shares in Amazon tumbled nearly 6% to 581.81, one day after analysts at Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN) raised its price target to $800, while Netflix shares fell more than 8% to 106.56, amid concerns that the web streaming giant could fail to break into the China market.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was SWN, which added 0.52 or 8.75% to 6.46. Southwestern Energy finished just ahead of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (N:CMG), which surged 24.35 or 6.02% to 428.61, as company executives expressed confidence that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were ready to declare that the restaurant chain's E.coli outbreak is about to conclude. "I'm hopeful that the CDC will call this over soon," Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said Wednesday at a conference in Orlando. "We know that Chipotle is as safe as it's ever been before." The worst performer was Williams Companies Inc (N:WMB), which fell 2.97 or 17.93% to 13.58, amid further losses in crude futures.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 2,721-368 margin.