Investors were feeling bearish, after the World Bank lowered its outlook for global economic growth, sending stocks lower.

Wednesday’s release of the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report reinforced the spirit of risk aversion, as the institution’s latest outlook on the global economy was not especially chipper:

Global growth in 2014 was lower than initially expected, continuing a pattern of disappointing outturns over the past several years. Growth picked up only marginally in 2014, to 2.6 percent, from 2.5 percent in 2013. Beneath these headline numbers, increasingly divergent trends are at work in major economies.  While activity in the United States and the United Kingdom has gathered momentum as labor markets heal and monetary policy remains extremely accommodative, the recovery has been sputtering in the Euro Area and Japan as legacies of the financial crisis linger, intertwined with structural bottlenecks. China, meanwhile, is undergoing a carefully managed slowdown. Disappointing growth in other developing countries in 2014 reflected weak external demand, but also domestic policy tightening, political uncertainties and supply-side constraints.

The downbeat outlook from the World Bank coincided with a report from the Census Bureau on December Retail Sales, which was far worse than expected.  The report indicated a 0.9 percent decline in retail sales for the month, which was even lower than the most pessimistic estimates, which anticipated a 0.4 percent decline. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA) lost 186 points on Wednesday to close at 17,427, for a 1.06 percent decline.  The S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) 500 dropped 0.58 percent to 2,011. 

The Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ:QQQ) declined 0.49 percent to 4,145.  The Russell 2000 (NYSEARCA:IWM) declined 0.30 percent to 1,177 – crossing below its 50-day moving average of 1,179.

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