US stocks erased earlier gains to close lower on Wednesday as a shooting at the Canadian parliament unnerved investors, Boeing and Biogen sold off following results, and energy stocks fell along with oil prices. Indexes had traded in positive territory for much of the session, putting the S&P 500 on track for a fifth straight day of gains. Earnings initially drove the move higher, with technology and material shares up on the back of strong results.

sharemarket benchmarks began drifting lower after the government reported a surprise increase in crude oil inventories. Energy shares were off 1.7 percent as crude oil CLc1 fell, settling near USD 80 per barrel. Canada’s capital was jolted by the fatal shooting of a soldier and an attack on the parliament building in which gunshots were fired outside a room where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking. Toronto stocks fell 1.6 percent, also affected by oil’s slide.

f the Ottawa shooting is related to domestic terrorism, Canally added, “it’ll put weight on the markets along with global growth.” The Dow Jones industrial average fell 153.49 points, or 0.92 percent, to 16,461.32, the S&P 500 lost 14.17 points, or 0.73 percent, to 1,927.11 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 36.63 points, or 0.83 percent, to 4,382.85.

Weaker oil and the Canada violence offset some encouraging economic news. US consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in September as energy costs fell broadly, painting a weak inflation picture that could give the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates low.

Coustery : http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/international-markets/wall-street-ends-lower-after-shooting-at-canadian-parliament_1210280.html