NEW YORK — Wall Street resumed its sell-off Wednesday after oil hit a record and a bearish analyst report renewed concerns that General Motors could run out of cash.
The stock market’s pullback, which accelerated in the final hours of the last full trading session this week, left the Dow Jones industrial average officially in bear-market territory, with the blue chips having fallen more than 20 percent from their October highs.
Oil surged to above $144 a barrel as the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. supplies and investors worried about tensions in the Middle East.
Fears that GM could go so far as to declare bankruptcy added to investors’ unease. The stock closed below $10 for the first time since September 1954, when Dwight Eisenhower was president. Investors shrugged off better-than-expected sales figures from June and fretted about the company’s cash needs.
The Dow fell 166.75, 1.46 percent, to 11,215.51, the lowest close since August 2006. It now stands 20.82 percent below its Oct. 9, 2007, record of 14,164.53. The last bear market ended in October 2002.
Broader stock indicators also posted big losses after showing gains for much of the morning. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 23.39, 1.82 percent, to 1,261.52, while the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index fell 53.51, 2.32 percent, to 2,251.46.
The S&P is just shy of the 20 percent pullback that signals a bear market.
While the Nasdaq is also in bear territory, it hit that mark in March, moved higher and has now returned to a bear level.
Bond prices rose as investors exited stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.96 percent from 4.01 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Wall Street is worried that rising energy prices are causing consumers to pare their spending in other areas.
Gasoline prices hit a fresh high ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, increasing half a penny to a national record of $4.092 a gallon on average, according to AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Crude oil hit a record $144.32 a barrel in after-hours trading after reaching a record settlement of $143.57, an advance of $2.60, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Energy Department reported Wednesday that U.S. crude-oil supplies fell more than expected last week.
Traders were cautious ahead of the three-day weekend. The stock market closes three hours early, at 11 a.m. MDT today, before the July 4 holiday Friday.
“It’s your typical holiday week for the summertime,” said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at the Williams Capital Group in New York.
“I think we’re all familiar with the economic problems out there,” he said, and given how weak stocks have been, the market is “staying the course.”
