The market has once again proven itself fickle as a decline in oil inventories, something the energy industry has been striving for a good long time, was instead taken as bad news by contributing to the weak inflation outlook.  The low inflation also hit bank stocks which should be benefiting by the rate hikes but instead went down almost a percent today.  In 2017 so far the energy index has fallen 15 percent even though the overall S&P has risen 9.  Volume was a little above average at 7.1 billion.  (Wasn’t it just yesterday that oil got hit 2 percent down from news that supplies have increased?  How can both reports be accurate?)

BUSINESS NEWS | Wed Jun 21, 2017 | 6:01pm EDT

S&P, Dow hurt by energy, banks; biotech boosts Nasdaq

By Sinead Carew | NEW YORK

DJ: 21,410.03  -57.11     NAS: 6,233.95  +45.92      S&P: 2,435.61  -1.42       6/21

(Reuters)  The S&P 500 and Dow stock indexes were weighed down by falling energy shares as oil prices fell on Wednesday and added to investor concerns about low inflation, while healthcare and technology stocks helped lift the Nasdaq Composite index.

Energy .SPNY was the weakest S&P sector with a 1.6 percent decline after oil prices LCOc1 reversed course during the morning session and U.S. crude CLc1 touched its lowest point since August despite larger-than-expected declines in inventories.

Continued weakness in oil futures added to investor worries about inflation and as a result hurt cyclicals such as banks and industrials, according to Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Financial Partners in Huntersville, North Carolina.

"Because people are seeing oil lower as another harbinger of lower inflation, a lot of other cyclicals (besides energy stocks) aren't doing well," said Zaccarelli.

Bank stocks .SPXBK fell 0.8 percent as investors worried interest rate margins would be hurt by a flattening yield curve, which is also driven by inflation expectations.

Industrial stocks .SPLRCI were also among the biggest decliners with a 0.7 percent drop. Caterpillar's (CAT.N) 3.3 percent fall weighed on the sector while a 1.6 percent rise in FedEx (FDX.N) was its biggest boost.

Investors looking for growth opportunities turned to Nasdaq, which contains many technology and biotechnology companies, according to Zaccarelli.

Healthcare stocks were helped by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to rein in drug prices may be friendlier than expected to the industry, according to Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass.

In general equity investors are biding their time ahead of quarterly results, which are expected to be good.

"We're just continuing to bounce around here until second quarter earnings come out," said McMillan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 57.11 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 21,410.03, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.42 points, or 0.06 percent, dropping to 2,435.61 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 45.92 points, or 0.74 percent, rising to 6,233.95.

The energy index has fallen 14.9 percent so far this year compared with an 8.9 percent rise for the S&P 500. Oil futures have fallen about 21 percent so far this year.

The four-company telecommunications sector .SPLRCL was the second weakest with a 1.2 percent drop, with AT&T Inc (T.N) leading the percentage declines.

The Nasdaq biotechnology index .NBI was up 4.1 percent, on track for its biggest one-day gain since the day after Trump's Nov. 8 election. Its biggest boosts were Celgene (CELG.O), and Regeneron (REGN.O) which both rose more than 5 percent and Biogen (BIIB.O), which rose 4.7 percent.

Republicans were due to release details of a bill aimed at overhauling U.S. healthcare law on Thursday and a vote could come as soon as next week, several senators told Reuters. Republicans worked behind closed doors for weeks on the bill. If it passes, some investors see it as a positive sign for Trump's pro-business agenda

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.70-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

About 7.16 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges compared with a 6.92 billion average for the last 20 sessions.