Stocks Fall as Sliding Oil Prices Hit Energy Shares

By Riva Gold and Leslie Josephs 

U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday as oil prices resumed their slide and some of the world's biggest energy companies posted disappointing quarterly results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 239 points, or 1.5%, to 16208 in midday trading.

The slide followed a renewed slump in the price of oil, dragging energy shares lower. Several large oil companies reported disappointing quarterly results, signaling that even the energy sector's most resilient companies are having trouble meeting the sharply lowered expectations for the world's oil and gas producers.

Exxon Mobil Corp. reported its l owest quarterly profit since 2002 and said it would suspend its stock-buyback program, sending shares of the Dow component falling 2.8%.

U.K. oil giant BP PLC reported a sharp quarterly loss, sending shares in the company down 7.9%.

U.S. oil prices briefly fell below $30 and were recently off 4.8% to $30.09 a barrel as hopes for a deal on production cuts faded. Brent, the global benchmark, declined 5.3% to $32.43.

"The two-day decline in oil is starting to weigh on the price action," said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at Robert W. Baird.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both fell 1.5%.

The moves mark the latest slide for U.S. stocks this year, which have been pummeled by diminishing expectations for global growth and the deep slide in oil prices, which has hurt energy companies but hasn't translated into a big uptick in consumer spending.

The S&P 500 is down 6.6% this year, while the Dow has lost 7.1%.

U.S. government debt rallied as investors sought assets perceived as safe. Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 1.874%, the lowest intraday level since April 2015.

Steep declines in the oil price have hit equity markets hard this year as investors fear it might signal slack in demand from the world's largest energy consumers.

While low oil prices should boost consumer spending and help companies save on costs, the underlying concern among investors is whether the decline in oil prices and economic weakness in China foreshadow a global recession, said David Donabedian, chief investment officer at Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management.

While Mr. Donabedian said he doesn't believe a global recession is imminent, he expects stocks to struggle to regain traction in the coming weeks given the persistent headwinds around China, oil, and the corporate earnings season.

Despite a strong rally late last week "all of the same issues that brought the [stock] market down in the beginning of the year are still in play," said Bill Nichols, head of U.S. equities at Cantor Fitzgerald.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2.1% late in the session, with losses concentrated in the energy and banking sectors.

Elsewhere, UBS Group reported a fall in fourth-quarter net profit. Shares fell 6.8%.

"People are nervous about global growth," said Stephen Macklow-Smith, head of European equities strategy at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, noting many of the emerging markets that have struggled this year are also large producers of raw materials.

Falling oil prices recently prompted Nigeria to request emergency funding from the World Bank, while the Russian ruble fell to its weakest ever level against the dollar this year.

Stocks in Asia ended mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed down 0.6%, while the commodity-heavy S&P ASX 200 fell 1% after the Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates steady as expected.

The Shanghai Composite Index, however, climbed 2.3% after China's central bank injected more liquidity into the financial system ahead of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday.

Alphabet reported a surge in profitability at its main Google Internet businesses last year. Shares rose 3.7%, helping Alphabet surpass Apple as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.

Gold prices fell 0.2% to $1125.30 an ounce.

Aaron Kuriloff and Leslie Josephs contributed to this article.

Write to Dan Strumpf at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2016 13:34 ET (18:34 GMT)

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