Stocks Down on Stimulus Doubts, Spain Auction

U.S. stocks extended losses into a second day on Wednesday as investors faced the prospect of no new monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve and as a weak bond auction in Spain prompted concerns about global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124.80 points, or 0.95%, to 13,074.75. The S&P 500 lost 14.42 points, or 1.02%, to 1,398.96. The Nasdaq Composite shed 45.48 points, or 1.46%, to 3,068.09.

Spanish borrowing costs jumped at bond auctions, raising concerns that the rally in troubled peripheral sovereign debt sparked by the European Central Bank’s two Long-Term Refinancing Operations may be coming to an end.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed a German-led push for the bank to start planning a retreat from emergency crisis-fighting, but stressed it was keeping a close eye on price pressures.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay $20 million to settle charges that it unlawfully handled customer segregated funds at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

American International Group (NYS:AIG) shares rose nearly 7 percent to a one-year high on Wednesday on news that it could reap billions of dollars from asset sales in the near future.

Crude-oil futures added sharply to their losses Wednesday following an inventories increase nearly five times larger than expectations. Crude for May delivery retreated $1.83, or 1.8%, to $102.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.