Stocks fell sharply Wednesday as a strong U.S. dollar and questions about China's lending practices caused investors to sell shares of commodities, one of the leaders of the recent stock rally. Specifically, a stronger dollar pressured dollar-traded commodity prices and stocks. The sector also was hit by reports that China (one of the biggest buyers of commodities) intends to slow the pace of lending this year in an attempt to avoid inflation. In economic news, U.S. housing starts fell in December, but building permits (a gauge of future homebuilding activity) jumped, the government reported. U.S. wholesale prices rose 0.2 percent in December, rising for the third consecutive month, but at a far slower pace than the 1.8 percent jump in November. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell $1.87 to $77.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for February delivery fell $27.40 to $1,112.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 122.28, or 1.1 percent, to 10,603.15. Twenty-six of the index's 30 components fell, led by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Boeing, United Technologies, and Wal-Mart Stores. IBM reported higher quarterly sales and profits late Tuesday that beat estimates, but shares of the technology giant fell 3 percent on Wednesday. Bank of America said losses widened to $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, partly due to the bank repaying government rescue funds. Its shares were little changed. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.19, or 1.1 percent, to 1,138.04. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 29.15, or 1.3 percent, to 2,291.25. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 113.85 to 7,329.83. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 26.13 to 1,881.82. And the Russell 2000 index fell 9.54 to 639.61.
