Dow's Flight 11K Hits Turbulence; Crude Tanked Below $68

Wall St Get First Blues In 6 Weeks
The bears returned to Wall Street on Wednesday as the Dow took its worst hit in six weeks after a Federal Reserve official raised the specter of higher interest rates and new data revealed consumer credit plunged in February. Renewed concerns about Greek debt, interest rates, and consumer credit pressured stocks into the red today, overshadowing a solid Treasury auction and upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Speaking in Dallas, Bernanke predicted improved economic conditions and an ebbing unemployment rate this year, but the central banker's rosy comments were somewhat negated by Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig's proposal to abandon rock-bottom interest rates sooner rather than later. Elsewhere, another well-received auction of 10-year notes helped limit losses in intraday activity, but data showing consumer borrowing declined by $11.5 billion in February – as well as news that Greece's borrowing costs hit a new high – virtually daggered the bulls late in the session, accelerating losses in the final hour of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 10,897.52) surrendered 72.47 points, or 0.66%, as 24 of its 30 blue chips ended lower. Leading the laggards were Alcoa and American Express , while Bank of America and Pfizer paced the six advancing equities.

Thanks to today's pullback, the Dow settled south of its 10-day moving average for the first time since Feb. 10 but rebounded off the 14-days Exponential Moving Average support (refer to Dow Daily Chart as per above).

There will be all round technical concerns whether the bulls can hold that line.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,182.45) finished on a similar deficit of 7 points, or 0.6%, though the broad-market barometer maintained its perch atop its 10-day trendline. Finally, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 2,431.16) fared the best of the major market indexes, giving up a relatively modest 5.7 points, or 0.2%, by the close.

Crude oil snapped its winning streak on a larger-than-expected increase in inventories

Crude futures snapped a six-session winning streak today, thanks to a sharper-than-expected increase in domestic inventories. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles advanced by 2 million barrels in the week ended April 2, exceeding economists' predictions for an increase of 1.5 million barrels. Furthermore, the EIA confessed that distillate supplies unexpectedly rose by 1.1 million barrels, defying expectations for a 1.5-million-barrel decrease. By the close, May-dated crude oil surrendered 96 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $85.88 per barrel.