Oil plunge drags stocks down

Markets mostly fell on Wednesday.

Oil led markets lower after the US Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies rose last week to lift total commercial inventories to a record weekly level. West Texas Intermediate crude plunged 5.4 percent and Brent fell 5.0 percent.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent as energy stocks plunged 2.5 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.1 percent after China reported a trade deficit for February.

However, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.1 percent.

While US stocks fell for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, they remain in a relatively calm period.

CNBC reports that the S&P 500 has posted its 100th consecutive trading day without a decline of 1 percent or more, its longest such run since 1994.