Stocks inch lower as rally attempt on Wall Street falters 
Stocks fell slightly Wednesday in choppy trading as markets struggled to sustain a rebound from earlier in the day. 
Traders also weighed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the central bank’s stance to fight inflation. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 47.12 points, or 0.15%, to 30,483.13, slipping in the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 dipped 0.13% to 3,759.89. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.15% to 11,053.08. 
Growing concerns of a recession on Wall Street have recently weighed on stocks. Fed Chair Powell on Wednesday told Congress the central bank has the “resolve” to tame inflation that has surged to 40-year highs. 
Expectations of a pending recession continued to grow on Wall Street this week. Citigroup raised chances of a global recession to 50%, pointing to data that consumers are starting to pull back on spending. 
Meanwhile, UBS said Tuesday in a note to clients that it does not expect a U.S. or global recession in 2022 or 2023 in its base case, “but it’s clear that the risks of a hard landing are rising.” 
Energy stocks took a hit as oil prices dropped on concern a slower economy will hurt fuel demand. The sector was the worst performing on the broad-market index, down nearly 4.2%. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended down 0.7%, with basic resources sliding 5% to lead losses as most sectors and major bourses ended in negative territory. 
Toward the top of the index, British retailer JD Sports climbed 6% after announcing that annual profit more than doubled for the year. 
Source: CNBC, Investing.com