Stocks Slide on Oil

The major U.S. stock benchmarks retreated as crude oil sank to new five and a half year lows after finding some stability last week. Volatility returned to the markets with the CBOE VIX index crossing 20 during the session before falling back slightly to close at 19.6 up 11.68%.

Market Radar - % Change

Nymex crude resumed its slide falling 4.74% to settle at $46.07 per barrel down $2.29.  Gold prices, one of the few positives on the day, climbed 1.37% to $1,232.8 per ounce up $16.70.

The Dow Jones Industrial average slipped 96.53 points or 0.54% to close at 17,640.84.  The S&P 500 was down 0.81% and closed at 2,028.25 down 16.55 points.  Unsurprisingly, the S&P 500 Energy sector was the hardest hit falling 2.9% while Telecommunications was the only sector in the green rising 0.56%.

The NASDAQ Composite shed 39.36 points or 0.84% to close at 4,664.71 while the tech heavy NASDAQ 100 was down 43.31 points or 1.03% to end the day at 4,169.97.

The Small cap Russell 2000 dipped 0.47% to close at 1,180.09 down 5.59 points and the FOX50 slid 11.84 points or 0.83% to close at 1,420.17.