US stocks fall, dragged down by sinking oil prices

New York - US stocks fell modestly on Wednesday, pulled down by sinking oil prices, closing out a sluggish August which saw the S&P 500 score its first monthly loss since February.

At the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% at 18 400.88.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.2% at 2 170.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2% to 5 213.22.

Oil prices continued a 10 day slide with a three percent drop as US stockpiles mounted, signalling more oversupply pain for the market.

ExxonMobil lost 0.6% and Chevron 1.1%, and oilfield service giant Schlumberger gave up 2.0%.

Apple shares edged up 0.2% a day after the European Commission socked it with a huge $14.5bn tax bill, saying Ireland had given the company unfair tax advantages.

Apple said it would appeal the ruling and that it was confident it would win its case.

Among the Dow blue chips, Intel led the gainers with a 0.5% rise.

Drug maker Abbott Labs fell 1.9% after diagnostics company Alere accused it of trying to pull out of its February deal to buy Alere for $5.8bn. Alere shares fell 0.5%.

In tech shares, Twitter surged 4.5% after co-founder Ev Williams told Bloomberg TV that the company would have to weigh any credible overture to buy it.

"We're in a strong position now, and as a board member we have to consider the right options," he said, among swirling rumours that the company is a target.