Published January 20, 2016 4:06pm EST | Updated January 20, 2016 5:05pm EST

U.S. Stocks Finish Sharply Lower, But Trim Losses In Wild Tradin

U.S. stocks finished a wild day of trading lower Wednesday. Heading into the close, crude oil prices recovered from a precipitous selloff, helping to mitigate a steeper drop for stocks. The S&P 500 finished 21 points, or 1.2%, lower at 1,859; the Dow industrials finished down 247 points, or 1.5%, at 15,768; and the Nasdaq Composite finished 5.3 points, or 0.1%, lower at 4,471.