NEW YORK - Wall Street extended its losses Wednesday as a rise in oil prices and a profit warning from United Parcel Service Inc. raised investors' anxiety about the well-being of the economy.
Technology names were among the steepest decliners, with the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index falling more than 1 percent.
The surge in oil prices weighed on transportation stocks and contributed to a pessimistic tone in the market. Crude prices jumped following a government report showing U.S. inventories fell by more than expected last week. The rise hurt shares of airline and trucking companies, which already are struggling to cope with high fuel costs.
UPS, the world's largest shipping carrier, pointed to a weaker economy and higher fuel costs in trimming its first-quarter forecast to $0.86 to $0.87 per share, well below analysts' consensus estimate of $0.93 per share.
Investors earlier this week received reports from aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. that have made the market uneasy about the overall trend of first-quarter results.
Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for the brokerage service Thinkorswim Group Inc., said investors are nervous about the implications, including inflation, of higher oil prices. Still, he said the relative calmness seen in the markets in recent sessions is impressive even as investors remain cautious about the economy.
"It's the first week we have had in a while where stocks are trading on their own merit. That's why we're trading on [news about] oil," he said. "It's amazing how well the market has held in there with three days of not-good news."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 49.18, or 0.39 percent, to 12,527.26.
