<A HREF="http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/current/snapshot.htx?" "target=external">Stocks Licking Their Wounds</a>

Blue chips led the stock market lower Wednesday as investors again worried about rising oil prices and their impact on corporate profits.

In afternoon trading, as of 2:50p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average, furthering a weeklong decline, was down 109 points to 10,619 after being down more than 200 points in earlier trading.

Broader indicators also fell sharply. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 20 to 3,845, giving back some of its 139-point advance of Tuesday, and the Standard & Poor's 500 was off 6.47 at 1,453.43.

"The fact that oil prices are now about $36 per barrel has probably become a temporary roadblock for the market," said Tom Galvin, chief equity strategist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities. "I think the majority of investor concern is over corporate profits, but I think there's been some anxiety over how long and how oil prices have moved higher, and further anxieties about outcome of the president election."

Given those doubts, Galvin said the news Wednesday that the U.S. trade deficit had soared to a record $31.9 billion in July, in part because of high oil prices, would not come as much of a surprise to the market, which already is reacting to the rising energy costs.

The stock market has been down for most of September, dogged by persistent worries about corporate profits as the economy shows increasing signs that it is slowing down. Higher oil prices are also adding to investor uncertainty, particularly in the case of large manufacturers, who rely heavily on fuel for production.

A barrel of light sweet crude traded at $37.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Investors again shunned stocks whose companies warned of unfavorable profits.

On the Big Board, specialty chemicals company Polyone fell $1.69 to $7, a nearly 19 percent drop, after it warned of lower corporate profits because of higher energy costs and softening demand.

Transportation company CNF slid $1.81 to $23.25 after the company said third-quarter earnings would be below analyst estimates because of a slowdown in its air freight business.

And Sprint fell $7.56 to $33.25, a more than 18 percent drop, after the telecommunications company said earnings will be lower than expected.

Even energy-related stocks, which tend to do well when oil prices are rising, dragged. Halliburton declined $1.13 to $49.44. Baker Hughes fell 38 cents to $35.75.

On the Nasdaq, online financial news provider thestreet.com tumbled $1.31 to $4.81, a 21 percent drop, after saying its profits would not meet expectations.

But chipmaker Intel traded up $1.67 at $62.05, a day after a Banc of America Securities analyst upgraded the stock.

E-billing company Alysis also rose $1.13 to $3.50 on news it had signed a deal to bundle its software with some of IBM's products.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than a 3-to-2 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, whee volume came to 733.27 million shares, ahead of the 674.52 million in the previous session.

The Russell 2000 index was off 0.87 to 522.46.