U.S. stocks fell Wednesday as oil prices edged closer to record levels, while bond yields touched a seven-month high and stoked worries that higher interest rates will squeeze corporate profits. Shares of rate-sensitive stocks such as those of financials and homebuilders slipped. Citigroup Inc. fell 1 percent to $47.98 and Banc of America Corp. slipped 1 percent to $45.78, weighing on the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Meanwhile, KB Home fell 2.2 percent to $118.23 and Pulte Homes Inc. dropped 2 percent to $76.38. But crude jumped to as much as $55.65 a barrel, a whisker away from its record high of $55.67 last October, as U.S. gasoline futures rose to a new record on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a power outage hit an Exxon Mobil refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 44.92 points, or 0.41 percent, at 10,867.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 4.43 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,215.00. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.64 points, or 0.13 percent, at 2,070.91. "Oil prices have stayed high even after the inventory data and treasury yields are worrying investors about higher interest rates, which in turn is hurting homebuilders and financials," said Paul Cherney, chief market analyst at Standard & Poor's. The benchmark 10-year note slid 16/32 in price, lifting yields to 4.46 percent.
