It was only four paragraphs, and it was not technically a surprise.

But an announcement by Sandy Springs-based UPS lowering its first-quarter earnings estimate —- sent at 5 p.m. Tuesday —- gave Wall Street shudders all day Wednesday and bounced UPS stock around until it closed at $70.66, down $2.65 from the previous day.

Several major stock indexes also ended the day down after oil prices shot up.

UPS dominated financial news Wednesday, as investors believed it showed jitters in the U.S. economy.

Then oil futures prices soared to record levels, trading at one point above $112 a barrel.

"It started negative with the UPS news, then when the oil inventory information came out at 10:30 a.m., that kind of sealed the deal," said Kim Caughey, an investment analyst with Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

"UPS is a great indicator of what's happening right now in the economy" in terms of what businesses are mailing, she said. That's what caused the jittery day on Wall Street, she added.

UPS executives had told analysts at a March meeting in New York that first-quarter earnings would be hard to meet unless the domestic economy improved.

The Tuesday memo downgraded the earnings estimate to 86 to 87 cents a share, down from 94 to 98 cents. A full look at UPS' first-quarter results will be out April 23.

"This is going to be a very interesting earnings season," Caughey said.

HOW THE STOCK DID

Wednesday close: $70.57

Down: $2.74