US stock market dips as America’s oil prices tumble into negative

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 550 points on Monday, a drop of 2.3 percent, while the SP 500 declined 1.6 percent. The Nasdaq lost 0.8 percent as of the close. Heralding the decline was a precipitous drop in West Texas Intermediate oil futures, which lost over 100 percent of their value, finishing at -$37.63 per barrel in value – a record low for the commodity.

Also on rt.com US oil market crashes to NEGATIVE in historic plummet

Led by the decline in oil futures, energy stocks were down in general – Chevron and Exxon Mobil lost over 4 percent each – and the energy and utilities sectors both lost over 3 percent on the SP 500, constituting its worst-performing industries.

The coronavirus pandemic has sent the US economy into a tailspin, and despite the Fed pouring trillions of dollars in bailout cash into the markets they have remained depressed as over 22 million jobs have been lost. The economic repercussions of the virus have been felt globally, with experts warning the resulting depression could be the worst in a lifetime.

The economic downturn has led to a decline in oil demand which – coupled with a glut in supply – triggered a panic on Monday as investors sought to unload their futures contracts all at once lest they be left holding the proverbial bag. [maybe too much repeating there, but just reminding ppl what happened re;futures contracts

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/486380-us-market-dow-dip/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS