NEW YORK — Stocks retreated modestly Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen implied that Fed policymakers are still considering raising interest rates in December.
Yellen’s comments pushed the U.S. dollar higher. The dollar’s rise had a secondary impact of causing oil to fall, which in turn impacted oil, gas and energy stocks. U.S. government bond prices also fell.
Media and entertainment stocks were pummeled after worrisome comments from media conglomerate Time Warner.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 50.57 points, or 0.28 percent, to 17,867.58; the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.48 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,102.31; and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.65 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,142.48.
During her regular semi-annual testimony to Congress, Yellen said an interest rate increase in December would be a “live possibility” if the economy stays on track. Yellen stressed that no decision had been made.
At its Dec. 15-16 meeting, the Fed will consider raising a key interest rate from a record low of near zero if the economy continues to grow at a strong enough pace to keep adding jobs and push annual inflation toward the Fed’s 2 percent target, Yellen said.
Securities that allow investors to bet on which way the Fed will move interest rates are now pricing in a roughly 60 percent chance of the Fed raising rates next month, according to data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“Everyone is so focused on the world’s central banks at the moment they don’t seem to care about anything else,” said Colleen Supran with the San Francisco-based wealth management firm Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough.
Investors will closely parse the October jobs report, which is due out Friday. Investors expect that U.S. employers added 185,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1 percent.
One of the biggest victims of Yellen’s comments, inadvertently, was oil and gas stocks. Yellen’s comments caused the U.S. dollar to strengthen and oil prices to decline sharply.
Crude oil fell $1.58, or 3.3 percent, to $46.32 a barrel, reversing after two days of gains. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell $1.96, or 4 percent, to $48.58 a barrel.
“Today’s sell-off was easily definable by some hawkish comments out of (Yellen) suggestive of a rate hike next month,” Jim Ritterbusch, with the oil trading firm Ritterbusch & Associates, wrote in a note.
Some of the biggest gainers on Monday and Tuesday were among the biggest decliners on Wednesday. Oilfield servicing company Baker Hughes fell $2.90, or 5.3 percent, to $51.56. Newfield Exploration lost $1.84, or 4.6 percent, to $38.30.
