NEW YORK: Oil prices dropped 3 percent on Monday, putting pressure on energy shares and keeping global stock markets in check, although financial shares rallied after upbeat news from Bank of America and Deutsche Bank.
In oil markets, concerns about supply disruptions eased and Libyan ports reopened while traders eyed potential supply increases by Russia and other producers.
U.S. crude fell 4.03 percent to $68.15 per barrel and Brent was last at $72.11, down 4.27 percent on the day.
Wall Street’s main indexes were little changed following strong weeks as investors geared up for a big week of corporate earnings and awaited commentary on the impact of trade disputes between the United States and its partners.
“Trade and trade rhetoric will be a focus of the market,” said Mona Mahajan, U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors in New York.
“As we get into earnings season in particular we are going to be watching for management teams to discuss their outlooks not only in the numbers but more generally anecdotally how trade could impact their businesses.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.96 points, or 0.04 percent, to 25,028.37, the S&P 500 lost 3.9 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,797.41 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.30 points, or 0.13 percent, to 7,815.68.
Major energy stocks such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell weighed on key indexes.
Financials in the U.S. and Europe were higher following Bank of America’s better-than-expected quarterly profit and Deutsche Bank’s upbeat earnings preview.
Overall in Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.29 percent.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.15 percent.
Investors were watching for any developments from a meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia.
Markets also looked to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual testimony on the economy and monetary policy before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
The dollar fell, having posted its largest weekly gain in a month last Friday, as risk appetite improved, prompting investors to pare back some of their long bets on the greenback.
The dollar index fell 0.2 percent, with the euro up 0.17 percent to $1.1705.
U.S. Treasury yields held at higher levels as data on domestic retail sales in June reinforced the view that consumer spending is increasing at a solid clip for robust economic growth in the second quarter.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 10/32 in price to yield 2.8674 percent, from 2.831 percent late on Friday.
Spot gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,238.91 an ounce.
Source: Brecorder
