Wall Street retreated Wednesday afternoon as investors backed out of a variety of stocks that had led the previous session's big rally, including financials.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 290 points, after enjoying its largest one-day point gain since 2003 on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 lost 32 points. And the Nasdaq Composite Index finished 58 points down for the day.

Stock futures recovered briefly Wednesday, after the Morgan Stanley results indicated that the bank is relatively healthy like Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co., rather than at risk of failure like the recently bought out Bear Stearns Cos.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight -- the agency that oversees the government-sponsored Fannie and Freddie, released details on its plan to ease capital requirements. The change is expected to result in an immediate infusion of up to $200 billion into the market for mortgage-backed securities. This could mean greater demand for mortgages -- an aid for struggling homeowners hoping to refinance at more favorable terms.

Oil prices fell sharply after the Energy Department released data indicating the high price of oil and gasoline are prompting consumers to pull back in their use of petroleum products. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell $4.94 to settle at $104.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Additional Resources:

• Refinancing Step-By-Step
• Repairing Poor Credit