Surging Crude Oil Prices Continue To Weigh On Wall Street

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks saw continued weakness throughout the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages closed lower for the third consecutive session, with the Dow falling to its lowest closing level in over a month.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Dow slid 405.41 points or 0.8 percent to 52,380.66, the Nasdaq declined 168.07 points or 0.6 percent to 26,253.34 and the S&P 500 fell 37.16 points or 0.5 percent to 7,636.36.