Stocks Ended Lower as Energy Sector Slid

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday as a sharp selloff in energy and utilities dragged indexes lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 158.67 points, or 0.89%, to 17,729.68. The S&P 500 lost 23.12 points, or 1.10%, to 2,079.51. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 33.08 points, or 0.64%, to 5,123.22.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday she was “looking forward” to a U.S. interest rate hike that will be seen as a testament to the economy’s recovery from recession. Yellen did not indicate if she still expected a rate hike would be warranted at the Fed’s last remaining policy meeting this year on Dec. 15-16.

The U.S. labor market tightened modestly in recent weeks with some upward pressure on wages as employers found it increasingly difficult to fill jobs across skill levels, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

Plans by Yahoo Inc’s (YHOO.O) board to consider selling its struggling Internet business sent the company’s shares up more than 5 percent on Wednesday, as investors cheered a potential new way to separate Yahoo’s traditional services from its valuable investment in Chinese Web merchant Alibaba.

The benchmark U.S. oil price tumbled below $40 a barrel for the first time since August on Wednesday, as a buildup of crude supplies signaled a deepening global glut. January West Texas Intermediate crude CLF6, -3.94% dropped $1.91, or 4.6%, to settle at $39.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.