Stocks fell for a second consecutive session Wednesday, as higher oil prices, weak U.S. retail sales, and more financial-market concerns unnerved investors. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery rose $2.99 to $116 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after briefly hitting a session high of $117.15 earlier. Prices rose after the weekly U.S. inventory report showed weakness in crude and gasoline supplies. U.S. retail sales fell 0.1 percent in July, reflecting the end of the impact from the government stimulus checks. Sales excluding autos rose 0.4 percent. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was little changed versus the euro and gained versus the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 109.51, or 0.9 percent, to 11,532.96. Financial firms like AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, and American Express led the decline. Shares of General Motors fell nearly 8 percent after Moody's reduced its debt rating. Oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron were among the index's few gainers. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.76, or 0.3 percent, to 1,285.83. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was little changed, falling 1.99, or nearly 0.1 percent, to 2,428.62. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 23.32 to 8,375.39. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 15.85 to 2,067.94. And the Russell 2000 index rose 2.75 to 747.69.
