Wednesday

Stocks reduced their intraday losses to close near the day's highs as investors struggled with shifting expectations for a major bout of easing by the Fed to stimulate the economy. The Dow was down by nearly 150 points in intraday trading, but fortunately it managed to retrace the majority of its early declines. Energy stocks were among the biggest drags on the market after weekly oil-inventory numbers showed U.S. stockpiles of crude oil rising by five million barrels. Gold and copper fell, sending down materials and industrials stocks, the two worst performers for the day. DJIA -43.18 Nasdaq +5.97 S&P 500 -3.19.