US close: Oil prices weigh down on equities

US equities dropped on Monday, as a slump in oil prices weighed on energy stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 117.12 points to 17,730.51, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were 14.6 and 40.5 points lower respectively.

Oil benchmarks headed lower, after OPEC rolled over its crude production level, which was last set at 30m barrels per day, but declined to offer an exact figure at the conclusion of its oil ministers' summit in Vienna, Austria late last week.

Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said, "OPEC will wait and see how the market develops over the next six months, and saw no need to alter the current production level during a period of market adjustment."

In wake of the OPEC announcement, Brent was down 4.37% to $41.12 per barrel, while WTI was down 4.95% to $37.99 per barrel at 1650 GMT.

The Federal Reserve’s Labor Market Conditions Index (LMCI) was the only piece of data out on Monday.

The index rose 0.5 points in November - the seventh consecutive monthly increase.The October LMCI increase was revised up to 1.5 points from an initial reading of 1.3 points.

The other big event state-side was a speech from St Louis Fed President James Bullard in Indiana, where he noted once the Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates, the focus will be on inflation to see if the central bank's economic forecasting is accurate.

“The main [variable] is particularly the inflation variable. We have to see if that actually starts to materialise," Bullard said.

"If oil prices stabilize at the current level and the dollar stabilizes and we still get no change in inflation, that will have disproved our story.”

Reuters reported he said if that happened, it would be a blow to the Fed’s outlook and would require a re-evaluation.

His speech is expected to be the last by a Fed official ahead of the US central bank meeting over 15-16 December, when the Fed is widely expected to announce the first hike in interest rates in almost ten years.

In company news, Chipotle Mexican Grill recovered somewhat after the restaurant chain said on Friday that its fourth quarter sales fell in the wake of an E.coli outbreak. It recovered from opening down 8% to close down just 1.5%.

General Electric slid 0.39% after revealing it decided to abandon the sale of its appliance business to Sweden’s Electrolux AB.

Car parts retailer Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack rose 2.23% after activist investor Carl Icahn late Friday disclosed a 12% stake in the company.

S&P 500 - Risers
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $88.89 +71.93%
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL) $48.16 +7.43%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $9.55 +6.11%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $51.78 +4.02%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $30.69 +3.96%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $32.05 +3.79%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $60.52 +2.68%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $58.92 +2.59%
Raytheon Co. (RTN) $127.14 +2.29%
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) $68.50 +2.18%

S&P 500 - Fallers
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $6.56 -15.03%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $10.66 -13.75%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $26.97 -13.31%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $21.62 -12.82%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $36.44 -10.09%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $7.09 -8.75%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $14.78 -8.31%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $7.12 -8.01%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $7.23 -7.90%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $25.75 -7.17%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $60.50 +1.41%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.06 +0.77%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $78.37 +0.69%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $103.32 +0.36%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $116.42 +0.19%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $95.91 +0.19%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.99 +0.14%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $53.68 +0.07%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.49 +0.04%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $87.28 -2.71%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $76.80 -2.61%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $185.49 -2.37%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $68.36 -2.31%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $115.91 -1.55%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $67.00 -1.31%
Visa Inc. (V) $79.55 -1.06%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $67.10 -0.96%
American Express Co. (AXP) $70.61 -0.69%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $118.28 -0.63%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $88.89 +71.93%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $30.69 +3.96%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $47.15 +2.01%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $179.15 +1.93%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $35.10 +1.89%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $45.78 +1.80%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $187.81 +1.78%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $40.83 +1.72%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $78.45 +1.57%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $33.22 +1.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $10.66 -13.75%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $3.27 -4.66%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $86.25 -4.64%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $125.36 -4.25%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $14.85 -4.19%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $89.60 -3.22%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $121.79 -2.70%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $95.51 -2.65%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $63.75 -2.36%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $546.61 -2.16%