NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market sagged in the final half-hour of trading Wednesday after Europe’s central bank withdrew key financial support for Greek banks. The price of oil plunged, dragging down energy stocks.
The European Central Bank late in the day said Greek banks could no longer access ECB credit using government bonds or bonds guaranteed by the government as collateral for loans.
The move unsettled investors and knocked most U.S. indexes lower.
Major U.S. indexes got off to a weak start Wednesday as a renewed drop in crude oil tugged down shares of energy companies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 recovered its losses by midday, meandered through the afternoon, then swung from a solid gain to a slight loss in the market’s last 30 minutes.
“It appears as though the ECB has thrown a huge curveball at the Greek government by now not accepting their bonds as collateral,” said Tom di Galoma, a bond trader at ED&F Man Capital.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 8.52 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,041.51. The Dow eked out a gain of 6.62 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17,673.02, and the Nasdaq sank 11.03 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,716.70.
