US stocks faltered on Wednesday after a three-day rally as a strengthening dollar and data showing a rise in US fuel supplies sent crude oil prices lower, hurting energy stocks. The euro dropped to a fresh three-week low against the dollar as investors unwound risky trades in commodities and higher-yielding currencies and bought back the greenback in a flight to quality bid.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 142.36 points, or 1.12 percent, to 12,618.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 14.66 points, or 1.08 percent, to 1,342.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 28.34 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,843.55. The S&P energy sector slid 3 percent to be the worst performing S&P sector and hit its lowest intraday level since March 17. Chevron Corp fell 2.5 percent to $101.73 and Exxon Mobil Corp lost 2.3 percent to $80.98. Through Wednesday, 450 of the S&P 500 companies had reported, with 69 percent posting results above analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
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