Stocks Ended Sharply Lower on Inflation Fear

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday, as fears of rising inflation hammered Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 681.50 points, or 1.99%, to 33,587.66. The S&P 500 plumped 89.06 points, or 2.14%, to 4,063.04. The Nasdaq Composite declined 357.75 points, or 2.67%, to 13,031.68.

Oil rose to the highest since early March with a second straight weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies underscoring the progress the world has made in draining a record supply glut built up last year. June West Texas Intermediate crude rose 80 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $66.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.