Oil prices, GM forecast push Dow down

Wall Street stumbled today after crude oil prices shot up to another new high, passing $56 a barrel and raising the specter of higher inflation and interest rates.

General Motors’ grim outlook for its first quarter took an added toll on the Dow Jones industrials, which fell more than 110 points.

Investors were already inclined to sell following the US Commerce Department’s report that the US deficit in the broadest measure of international trade soared to a record $665.9 billion last year, 25.5% above the previous record set in 2003.

The Dow finished down 112.03, or 1.04%, at 10,633.07.

Broader stock indicators also dropped. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 9.68, or 0.81%, to 1,188.07, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 19.23, or 0.94 percent, to 2,015.75.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was off 3.85, or 0.62%, at 622.97.