Wall Street’s chronic inflation fears sent stocks skidding today as a sharp jump in wholesale prices overshadowed strong profit reports from several Dow Jones industrials. Heavy selling in the energy sector also pressured the major indexes.

A surge in oil prices sent the major stock indexes to their lowest level of the year today as investors overlooked a strong earnings report and a bullish outlook from General Electric Co. All three indexes fell for the third straight week.

Speculation that Argos owner GUS was on the shopping list of a consortium of private-equity firms and banks boosted the London market today.

Technology shares sank today on disappointing news from Intel, briefly pushing the Nasdaq composite index into negative territory for the year despite a brighter forecast from wireless equipment maker Qualcomm.

LONDON’S bankers hoped a recent resurgence in merger deals would generate some much-needed good news for their battered industry but instead found Britain’s press seeking out an “insider dealing ring” among them.