By Amrith Ramkumar and Georgi Kantchev

Declines in financial and technology stocks, along with lingering worries about slowing global growth, dragged U.S. stocks lower Wednesday in another volatile session.

Major indexes opened higher before tumbling most of the morning and early afternoon. They hit their lowest point of the day at about 2 p.m. in New York and then staged a sudden rally to pare most of their decline, with little explanation. But they couldn't hold on and slumped again in the final 30 minutes, resulting in a 565-point intraday swing for the Dow industrials.

Stocks' failure to gain momentum after a modest advance in the wake of last week's midterm elections has made some investors nervous that continuing anxiety about a weaker global economy and tighter financial conditions could continue. That is why declines in individual sectors such as technology and financials have spread so quickly, analysts said.

"People got complacent and comfortable that the market was rallying back, and now they're reassessing that position again," said Mohit Bajaj, director of ETF trading solutions at WallachBeth Capital.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 205.99 points, or 0.8%, to 25080.50, while the S&P 500 shed 20.60 points, or 0.8%, to 2701.58. The blue-chip index posted its fourth consecutive session of declines, while the S&P 500's losing streak extended to five sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 64.48 points, or 0.9%, to 7136.39, after rising about 1% shortly after the opening bell.

Slumping Treasury yields dragged down bank shares as lower yields tend to hurt lending profitability. The S&P 500 financial sector fell 1.4%, and Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase closed down about 2%.

Outsize declines in fast-growing internet companies also continued to stoke broader volatility. Some analysts worry that revenue growth for those firms is peaking, removing a key source of support for U.S. stocks. Apple and Netflix dropped more than 2.6%, and Microsoft and Amazon.com each fell more than 1.4%.

Some investors say recent lukewarm revenue targets from internet companies are a sign that they aren't immune to slowing global growth and trade tensions. Economic data in Europe and Asia added to those concerns Wednesday.

"This question about global growth is really central to everything that happens here," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Germany's economy shrank for the first time in 3 1/2 years in the third quarter, while overall eurozone annualized growth was 0.7% over the quarter, its lowest rate since 2013.

In China, business activity was mixed in October, as retail sales grew at the slowest pace in five months, while growth in industrial output and investment accelerated.

The data came as investors watched for the latest moves in the trade spat between the U.S. and China. The countries have renewed talks on trade ahead of a meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping, set for the end of November at the Group of 20 nations summit in Buenos Aires.

Meanwhile, the U.K.'s Theresa May secured cabinet approval for her Brexit deal, setting the stage for a tougher vote in Parliament on the U.K.'s exit from the bloc and causing gyrations in the British pound.

"There are a lot of issues out there: geopolitics, oil, trade wars, Brexit, take your pick," said Eric Stein, co-director of global income at Boston-based Eaton Vance. "It means more volatility is in store for the foreseeable future."

Macy's was an S&P 500 laggard, sliding $2.57, or 7.2%, to $33.22 following its earnings report even after it delivered healthy sales growth in its latest quarter and raised its guidance for the year. Investors will parse Thursday retail-sales data and Walmart earnings for the latest reading on consumer spending ahead of the holiday season.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 3.120% from 3.145%. Yields fall as bond prices rise. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was recently down 0.2%.

Those moves came after data showed consumer prices rose in October in line with expectations, potentially easing some anxiety about higher inflation leading to a faster pace of interest-rate increases. But some analysts remain anxious that tariffs will also impact inflation moving forward and the Federal Reserve's path of rate increases.

Oil prices stabilized Wednesday, with U.S. crude up 1% to end a record 12-session losing streak.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6%.

Earlier, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5% while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.2%. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9%.

Write to Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com and Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 14, 2018 17:26 ET (22:26 GMT)

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