Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell broadly halting a three-day rally, as a group of euro zone finance ministers ended discussions on Wednesday evening without reaching a temporary deal with Greece deemed necessary to help the cash-strapped nation avoid bankruptcy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 175 points, erasing all of its gains from Monday's surge in one of its worst sessions over the last two months. The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, each fell by more than 0.7% on a bearish day for stocks. The Dow slid 178 points or 0.98% to 17,966.07, dropping below 18,000 for the first time in five sessions, while the NASDAQ dipped 37.69 or 0.73% to 5,122.41, as biotechnology stocks lagged.
In addition, the S&P 500 fell 15.62 or 0.74% to 2,108.58, as all 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Basic Materials and Health Care industries lagged, each falling by more than 1%.
Shares of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) were relatively flat on Wednesday, one day after the global leader for Internet streaming media announced that its Board of Directors authorized a 7-for-1 stock split, payable to shareholders on July 14. Netflix shares rose to an intraday high of 706.24, before paring gains when reputed investor Carl Icahn announced that he is selling the last of his shares in the company. Netflix closed at 678.61, down 2.58 or 0.38%.
At the same time, Icahn drew comparisons between Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the media streaming giant, telling CNBC that "Apple is (currently at) where Netflix was a couple years ago." Shares in Netflix are up more than 100% over the last 52 weeks.
As a result, Apple ended Wednesday's session as the only Dow component to close in the green, after gaining 1.31 or 1.03% to 128.34. Icahn also expressed concern that the markets have the potential for overheating if yields on junk bonds remain excessively high. The comments helped accelerate Wednesday's sell-off.
The worst performer was EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which fell 2.06 or 3.01% to 66.44. The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA), which rose 0.83 or 1.25% to 67.41. The worst performer was Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON), which lost 6.00 or 5.32 to 106.78, after the global leader in seed making reiterated that it will still pursue a takeover bid of rival Syngenta.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN), which surged 2.07 or 4.22 to 51.07 after the U.S. second-largest homebuilder reported a spike in quarterly earnings of more than 30%. Monsanto was also the worst performer on the S&P 500, just below Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS), which fell 0.78 or 4.69% to 15.84.
On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners outnumbers advancers by a 2,216-922 margin.