Stocks falter as investors rattled by Canadian shooting, falling oil prices
Stocks turned sharply lower during afternoon trading, as investors were spooked by gunfire in and around Canada's Parliament that resulted in at least two deaths.
Stocks already had begun to give up gains as the price of oil turned lower after data had U.S. inventories rising more than expected; West Texas crude settled on its low of the day, falling by $2 (-2.4%) to $80.45/bbl.
The energy sector (-1.7%) showed the largest decline, followed by the industrial sector (-1.3%), which was pressured by Boeing; defensive utility and consumer staple stocks, considered less sensitive to market swings, finished positive.
Participation was above average, with more than 779M shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.
Treasury prices finished flat after reclaiming intraday losses; the 10-year yield ended at 2.22%.
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