Bulls Brake for Jobs Data, Profit Warnings

"It's a bearish market, and until we start to see spreads change it's going to be very difficult to turn it around," says Newsom. "We have to continue to remind people that neither a $6 decrease nor a $15 increase in oil prices are as meaningful as they used to be."

Gold gave up $24.30 to settle at $841.70 an ounce.

Moving on to Treasuries, the 10-year note was giving up 12/32 to yield 2.5%, and the 30-year note was down 1 13/32, yielding 3.1%. The dollar was recently stronger against the euro and pound, and weaker against the yen.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were both edging lower Wednesday. Stocks in Asia ended mixed -- with Japan's Nikkei ending higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng losing ground.