Stocks fall on oil, economic woes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Surging oil prices and a weaker-than-expected read on durable goods orders sent stocks lower early Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 59.12 to 12,338.17, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (down 6.67 to 1,421.94, Charts) index and the Nasdaq (down 11.37 to 2,426.06, Charts) composite all lost around 0.5 percent in the early going.

Stocks slipped Tuesday after a weak profit report from Lennar (Charts) revived worries about the housing sectors and a big drop in consumer confidence fed concerns about the broader economy.

Concerns about the economy were again in play Wednesday. February durable goods orders rose 2.5 percent versus a 9.3 percent decline in January, missing expectations. (Full story).

Investors also eyed oil prices, which spiked 2.5 percent to $64.44 a barrel in electronic trading on ongoing reports and rumors about the conflict with Iran, the No. 4 oil exporter. Prices briefly jumped 8 percent in overnight electronic trading on Iran worries, before backing off.

Also in focus Wednesday: the latest from Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve chairman is due to testify before the Joint Economic Committee on the U.S. economic outlook, starting shortly.

Treasury prices crept higher, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.58 percent from 4.61 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar was little changed versus the euro and weaker versus the yen.

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