Weak oil pulls Wall Street back from record levels

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - Wall Street retreated from record levels on Wednesday as a drop in oil prices pressured energy stocks and weighed more heavily than a surge in Walt Disney.

A rally since late June has taken the S&P 500 up over 6 percent in 2016, as continued low interest rates encourage investors to buy U.S. equities, although many investors are concerned about high valuations.

The energy index <.SPNY> fell 1.04 percent, hurt by a drop in oil prices after the U.S. government reported a surprise crude stockpile build.

Exxon Mobil's 1.48 percent drop was the top drag on the S&P 500 and the Dow.

 

"Once we saw inventories this morning, that certainly moved energy far lower and dragged almost everything else down," said Tim Dreiling, regional investment director for The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank.

At 2:39 pm, ET, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.33 percent to 18,472.66 points and the S&P 500 <.SPX> had lost 0.43 percent to 2,172.44. The S&P 500 has hit four record intraday highs this month.

The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 0.51 percent to 5,198.59.

Six of the 10 major S&P 500 indexes were lower. Trading volume was low in the absence of market-moving information in a traditionally low-volume season.

Shares of Walt Disney rose 1.52 percent after the company reported results overnight and bought a 33 percent stake in video-streaming firm BAMTech. The stock provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Dow.

SunPower shares sank 29 percent after the company swung to a second-quarter loss, lowered its full-year revenue forecast and said it would reorganize its business.

Perrigo dropped 10 percent after reporting a lower-than-expected profit and slashing its earnings forecast.

JD.com jumped 4.3 percent after it reported revenue within its forecast. The stock gave the biggest boost to the Nasdaq.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.43-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.02-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 31 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)