NEW YORK (AP) — Energy companies are closing sharply lower, leading a broad decline on the stock market, after the price of oil dropped to its lowest point in nearly seven years.
U.S. crude plunged almost 6 percent to close below $38 a barrel Monday. That’s the lowest level since February 2009, at the height of the financial crisis.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron each fell 3 percent, the biggest declines in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Airline stocks rose on the prospect of lower fuel costs. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways each rose 4 percent.
The Dow gave up 117 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,730.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,077. The Nasdaq composite dropped 40 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,101.
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