While you were sleeping: UPDATED Energy stocks, oil slide on Wall Street

Wall Street fell as energy stocks moved lower with the price of oil amid fresh signs of an unabated global glut.

Oil weakened as American Petroleum Institute data showed inventories rose. US crude fell 2.5% to $US41.71 a barrel. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia told OPEC that it pumped a record 10.67 million barrels of oil a day in July, according to Bloomberg.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 37.39 points, or 0.2%, to 18,495.66, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.4% to 5204.58.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.3% to 2175.49. The Nasdaq had closed at a record on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 finished at its second-highest level ever.

The Dow declined as slides in shares of Exxon Mobil and those of Chevron, down 2.9% and 1.2% respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Walt Disney and those of Wal-Mart, up 1.2% and 0.5% respectively.

'Not a good day for energy'
"It's not a good day for energy at all," New Jersey-based Themis Trading equity trader Mark Kepner told Bloomberg.

It wasn't a good day for bank stocks either as investors tried to gauge the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase.

"With financials it's about the 10-year, we're back to 1.50 again. There's the feeling the Fed is probably going to be on hold for September and that's why I think financials are tailing off again," Mr Kepner says.

Shares in Wendy's fell after it reported disappointing sales. It is the latest US fast-food chain to do so, as a drop in the cost of groceries prompted customers to eat more often at home instead.

Same-restaurant sales increased 0.4% in North America in the second quarter of 2016, Wendy's says. The company’s shares traded 1% lower at $US10.09 after earlier falling as low as $US9.39.

"The most notable key behind the sales slowdown appears to be the continued gap between cost of eating at home and cost of dining out, which is now at its widest point since the recession," Wendy's chief executive Todd Penegor says.

Disney rises on deal
It wasn't all bad news. Walt Disney shares rose after the company said it bought a 33% stake in BAMTech for $US1 billion, and has the option to acquire majority ownership in the coming years.

"Our investment in BAMTech gives us the technology infrastructure we need to quickly scale and monetise our streaming capabilities at ESPN and across our company," Robert Iger, Disney's chief executive officer, says.

"We look forward to working closely with BAMTech as we explore new ways to deliver the unmatched content of The Walt Disney Company across a variety of platforms."

Shares of Yelp gained 13% after the online review site posted better-than-expected quarterly profits and strong revenue projections.

Shares of Perrigo declined 9.6% after the drugmaker slashed its guidance for the year and said it missed earnings expectations for the latest quarter.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.3% from the previous close. France's CAC 40 index slid 0.4%, as did Germany's DAX index. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.2%.

(BusinessDesk)

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