Mixed End to Rocky Day for Stocks

Earlier, the Energy Department released its latest weekly inventory data. The report showed that U.S. oil stocks rose by 1 million barrels, while 2.7 million barrels of gasoline were drawn down. Distillate stores fell by 3.4 million barrels.

"The events we've had for the last week still haven't changed," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst with Jefferies. "We still have concerns about high energy prices, interest rates and earnings growth deceleration. We're in a time where we're going to hear a lot about these things, too. We're probably going to be getting more bad news than good news, even if we don't hear the hurricanes as an excuse."

On the economic front, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap widened in August by 1.8% to $59 billion. Economists expected the gap to grow to $59.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the U.S. import price index jumped 2.3% in September, the highest rise in 15 years. Economists had expected the price index to increase by 0.9%. Excluding oil, the index was up 1.2%.

The Labor Department also said initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 389,000 for the week ended Oct. 8. The four-week moving average declined by 8,750 to 395,750.

After the close Wednesday, Dow member McDonald's(MCD Quote) raised its third-quarter earnings guidance to 56 cents a share, 2 cents better than the Thomson First Call consensus.

The fast-food chain also reported higher same-restaurant sales in the U.S. for September, although the rate of growth was lower than in three previous months. Shares gained 38 cents, or 1.2%, to $32.05.

A day after Prudential cut its rating and lowered its price target on Dow component Intel(INTC Quote), Merrill Lynch recommended the stock as a buy ahead of the semiconductor maker's third-quarter results, which are scheduled for Oct. 18.