Stocks End Lower After Drop in Price of Oil

Stocks gave up an early gain and closed mostly lower after a sharp drop in the price of crude oil dragged energy companies down, the AP reports. A weak showing by IBM also weighed on technology stocks Wednesday and tugged the Dow Jones industrial average lower. IBM slumped 4.9% after reporting revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates. Among energy companies, Marathon Oil dropped 4.3% and Newfield Exploration sank 3.5%.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,338. The Dow dropped 118 points, or 0.6%, to 20,404. The Nasdaq composite increased 13 points, or 0.2%, to 5,863. Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.21%. (Read more stock market stories.)