Energy Shares Walloped As Oil Inventories Seen Rising

Shares of oil-related firms were hammered Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an increase in crude-oil supplies even as prices hit record lows. Shares of Marathon Oil Corp. , down by 6.7% and leading losers on the S&P 500 , were trading at a 52-week intraday low. Chevron Corp. also hit a 52-week intraday low, dragging the Dow Jones Industrial Average down along with it. Other energy names, Newfield Exploration Company , EOG Resources Inc. and Apache Corp. , were all tumbling about 5%. Crude-oil futures for September delivery were off more than 4% after the EIA report revealed the rise in oilinventories. The energy sector, off 2.6%, was driving the S&P 500's 10 main sectors lower.