A sharp sell-off in energy companies pulled US stock indexes modestly lower Wednesday, wiping out small gains from the day before.
Advertisement
The market was so flooded with oil at the beginning of this year that prices threatened to fall as low as $20 a barrel. Health care, technology and consumer-focused companies were among the gainers.
“The talk of limiting output may support the market for a time, much as it did in the first quarter of the year”.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 17 points to 18,512 as of 2:36 p.m.
Overseas, European equities traded slightly lower, with the Stoxx 600 index slipping 0.13 percent. A blowout jobs report released on Friday eased worries over the USA economy, though it increased the chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike in coming months. Traders are looking ahead to Friday, when the government delivers its latest monthly retail sales figures. It was expected that there would only be a gasoline stockpile drop of 1.1 million barrels.
After declining for a record nine straight weeks, crude oil inventories have now risen for three straight weeks.
US crude futures slid 1.3% on Wednesday to just above $42 per barrel.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures were down 13 cents at US$44.85 per barrel at 1216 GMT. The stock dropped $1.61 to $24.01. The stock slid $9.45 to $38.80.
SCORCHED: Traders sought shade from SunPower after the solar products and service company tumbled 29.9 percent. The company also said it is undergoing a restructuring.
SAPPED: Several oil and gas companies were trading lower. The stock added $4.19 to $36.83.
FASHIONABLE RESULTS: Watch and accessories maker Fossil Group and clothing company Ralph Lauren surged after the retailers delivered strong quarterly results.
“We’re slowly turning the corner and exiting (the) earnings recession”, Doll said.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 2.5 percent, while France’s CAC 40 gained 1.2 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite index 0.1 percent down at 3,015.16. Throughput sank by 480,000 a day between April and June amid a glut of fuels like gasoline that refiners had churned out earlier in the year while taking advantage of cheap crude prices. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 fell almost 1 percent at 5,490.60.
Advertisement
METALS: The price of gold rose $5.60, or 0.4 percent, to $1,339 an ounce. Copper gained 2 cents, or 1 percent, to $2.17 a pound.
