US stocks weighed down by sliding oil prices

US stocks witnessed some selling pressure during early trade on Wednesday, with all three major indices opening in negative territory. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated over 55-points to 20,030, while the broader S&P 500 Index shed around 7-points to 2,285. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down nearly 25-points to 5,650. With today’s downfall, US equity indices slipped farther below intraday record highs touched in the previous session.

Continuous slide in crude oil prices, with WTI crude oil weaker below $52.00/barrel mark, was seen weighing on energy shares and dragging the key indices. Tuesday's API report showed that US crude supply increased by 14.2 million barrels last week, far beyond the 2.5 million expected. Hence, market focus would remain on the official weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration, due in a short while from now.

There are no major economic releases due on Wednesday and hence, today's movement in equity markets would remain dependent on oil price action following the release of EIA data.