- The S&P energy sector (XLE -2.6%) supplants tech as the stock market's worst performer, as U.S. crude oil futures sink to fresh one-year lows, falling alongside stocks as investors dump risk assets; WTI -5% at $54.35/bbl, Brent -5.1% at $63.38/bbl.
- "When the stock market comes off 8%-9%, it tends to conjure up images of a weak global economy and that feeds into expectations of weaker than expected oil demand," says Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.
- Expectations for a ninth straight week of U.S. crude inventory increases also weigh on prices; seven analysts polled ahead of today's data from the American Petroleum Institute estimates crude stocks rose 2.1M barrels last week.
- Among oil and gas names: XOM -1.9%, CVX -2.6%, RDS.A -2.3%, BP -1.6%, COP -3.1%, PXD -2.8%, EOG -2.5%, DVN -6.1%, APA -3.6%, APC -4.7%, MRO -5.9%, HES -2.9%, SWN -4.4%, CHK -7.1%, RRC -5.3%, NBL -2.6%, SLB -3%, HAL -4.3%, BHGE -2.6%, KMI -2%, EPD -3%.
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