U.S. stocks surrendered early gains on Wednesday, with the Dow sliding into negative territory, as trade policy concerns overshadowed a softer-than-expected inflation report. The Dow fell 307.01 points, or 0.7 percent, to 41,126.47, while the S&P 500 edged up 1.81 points to 5,573.88 and the Nasdaq added 113.01 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,549.10. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February, below the 0.3 percent forecast, and the annual rate slowed to 2.8 percent from 3.0 percent. Initial optimism over potential Fed rate cuts faded after the European Union announced counter tariffs on 26 billion euros worth of U.S. goods and Canada imposed 25 percent tariffs on more than $20 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation for new U.S. steel and aluminum duties. Airline stocks led declines, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index dropping 2.7 percent to a five-month intraday low, while semiconductor shares bucked the trend, lifting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 1.9 percent.