NEW YORK — Wall Street tumbled Wednesday as the price of a barrel of oil soared to a record near $124 and touched off concerns that the stock market’s recent gains might have been premature as consumers grapple with rising energy and food costs. The major stock-market indexes each lost more than 1.5 percent, with the Dow Jones industrial average declining by more than 200 points.
Sharp gains in commodities prices have drawn fresh attention from investors worried that consumers — the lifeblood of the U.S. economy — will be forced to pare discretionary spending to keep up with increasing costs for necessities.
Oil prices have doubled over the past year, causing gasoline prices to surge into record terrain and strap consumers, who drive more than two-thirds of economic activity, with another financial burden.
Ed Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management in Boston, said, “It is going to be a drag if we continue to get rising prices. The oil price is just symptomatic of a broader trend.”
But Stephen Carl, head of equity trading at the Williams Capital Group, said that while rising oil prices appeared to rattle investors, many had also seen sizable gains from stocks in recent weeks and wanted to preserve their profits.
“Perhaps we fall away here for a few sessions,” he said, noting that the Standard & Poor’s 500 index’s rebound to the 1,400 level might have been too hasty for some.
The Dow fell 206.48, or 1.59 percent, to 12,814.35, after fluctuating early in the session. Broader stock indicators also declined. The S&P 500 fell 25.69, or 1.81 percent, to 1,392.57, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 44.82, or 1.80 percent, to 2,438.49.
Bond prices rose as investors pulled more money out of stocks and placed it in the safer confines of the Treasury market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.86 percent from 3.89 percent late Tuesday.
Light, sweet crude rose $1.69 to settle at $123.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange but traded just pennies away from $124 during Wall Street trading.
The dollar rebounded against other major global currencies, and gold prices fell.
While stocks pulled back, the day was not without good news. The Labor Department said labor costs rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent during the first quarter. That’s down from a 2.8 percent rise the previous quarter, suggesting that inflation pressures may be letting up.
