NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in early afternoon trading Wednesday as weakness in energy companies dragged down the broader market. The price of oil fell sharply, reversing a recent gain. Media stocks plunged after Time Warner issued a bleak outlook.
Investors were also keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve. Fed Chair Janet Yellen told Congress that the nation’s central bank could still raise interest rates at its December meeting.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 68 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,849 as of 1:50 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,099 and the Nasdaq composite fell 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,129.
WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY: Yellen told a Congressional hearing that an interest rate hike in December would be a “live possibility” if the economy stays on track. Yellen did stress that no decision has been made yet and a move in December will depend on how the economy fares between now and then.
At its Dec. 15-16 meeting, the Fed will consider raising a key interest rate from a record low of near zero if the economy continues to grow at a strong enough pace to keep adding jobs and push annual inflation toward the Fed’s 2 percent target, Yellen said.
Yellen’s comments helped send the dollar higher against other major currencies. Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.24 percent from 2.21 percent the day before.
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS: A report out from payroll processor ADP showed that American businesses added a solid but unspectacular 182,000 jobs in October. In its report, ADP also revised September’s figure down to 190,000 from 200,000.
The ADP report is a precursor to the more important government jobs report, which is due out Friday. Investors expect that U.S. employers added 185,000 jobs in October and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1 percent.
The October jobs report is widely seen as an important gauge for whether or not the Fed will raise interest rates at its December meeting.
“Everyone is so focused on the world’s central banks at the moment they don’t seem to care about anything else,” said Colleen Supran with the San Francisco-based wealth management firm Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough.
REVERSE COURSE: Energy stocks have been a significant catalyst for the market’s upward move for the last few days, but that momentum is fading. The price of crude oil fell $1.54, or 3.2 percent, to $46.37 a barrel in New York. Brent crude oil, used to price oil internationally, fell $1.71, also 3.4 percent, to $48.84 a barrel in London.
Some of the biggest gainers on Monday and Tuesday were now among the biggest decliners. Chesapeake Energy fell 40 cents, or 5 percent, to $7.21 and Noble Energy fell 98 cents, or 3 percent, to $37.71.
STATIC: Media companies fell sharply after Time Warner gave a worrisome earnings forecast for 2016. The company cited concerns about “cord-cutting,” a phenomenon that’s been increasing in recent years where long-time cable TV subscribers have cancelled or substantially curtailed their subscriptions, opting instead for cheaper services like HBO GO or Netflix.
Time Warner fell $6.41, or 8.2 percent, to $70.94, Viacom fell $4.37, or 8 percent, to $48.48 and Twenty-First Century Fox lost $2.73, or 9 percent, to $28.77.
Netflix gained $3.93, or 3.5 percent, to $113.70.
IT’S ELECTRIC! Tesla Motors shares jumped $21.83, or 10 percent, to $230.00. While the company announced a wider-than-expected loss for the quarter, the company also said it was boosting car production.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 121.45 yen from 121.04 late Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.0867 from $1.0966.
METALS: Precious and industrial metals futures closed lower. Gold fell $7.90 to $1,106.20 an ounce, silver lost 18 cents to $15.06 an ounce and copper edged down less than a penny to $2.32 a pound.
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