By DPA,
New York : Wall Street stock indices suffered major losses as oil futures hit a new record during Wednesday trading.
Oil contracts for delivery next month peaked at $143.91 per barrel before closing at $143.74 per barrel.
“As long as oil is going higher every day, it’s difficult to say that we will hit a bottom,” Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago, told the Bloomberg financial news agency.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 166.75 points, or 1.46 percent, to 11,215.51. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 23.39 points, or 1.82 percent, to 1,261.52. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 53.51 points, or 2.32 percent, to 2,251.46.
The US currency dropped against the euro to 62.949 from 63.32 euro cents Tuesday. The dollar slipped against the Japanese currency to 105.83 yen, compared to 106.11 yen Tuesday.