US open: Stocks decline as oil price plunges below $30

US stocks declined as oil prices tumbled below $30 per barrel along with a fall in retail sales and industrial and manufacturing production.

At 1435 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.19%, the Nasdaq dropped 2.82% and S&P 500 declined 2.13%.

Oil prices reversed gains in the previous session as concern grows that Iran could restart oil exports flooding the market in an already oversupplied market.

West Texas Intermediate crude plunged 5.1% to $29.67 per barrel and Brent slid 3.4% to $29.83 per barrel at 1438 GMT.

“Oil experienced a very turbulent start to 2016 and remains victim to a ceaseless theme of an aggressive oversupply in the markets, while rising concerns around slowing global growth have renewed fears that demand may be waning,” said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.

“A strengthening US dollar has added to oil’s woes, while investor attraction periodically diminishes as escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran thwart any remaining hopes of a production cut."

Meanwhile, US retail sales fell 0.1% in December, as expected, following a 0.4% increase in November, according to the Commerce Department. However, core retail sales fell 0.3% in December, missing forecasts for a 0.3% increase.

The producer-price index fell 0.2% in December, the Labor Department said, in line with estimates.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.1%, also as predicted.

US industrial production fell for the third straight month in December, according to data released by the Federal Reserve. Industrial output dropped a seasonally-adjusted 0.4% last month, steeper than the 0.2% slip economists had been expecting. Manufacturing output, which makes up nearly three quarters of overall industrial output, fell 0.1% in December, worse than the zero growth predicted.

Still the come, the University of Michigan Confidence survey for January will be out at 1500 GMT, as well as business inventories data for November.

Elsewhere, Asia stocks declined as China entered a bear market and oil prices reversed the previous day’s gains.

China’s index was also weighed down by a report that some banks in Shanghai have suspended the acceptance of shares from smaller listed companies as collateral for loans.

“Interventions by Chinese authorities are beginning to wane and lack effect as the cycle of capital outflows, weaker yuan and general volatility undermines investor confidence globally,” said Brenda Kelly, head of analysts at London Capital Group.

The People’s Bank of China also revealed that Chinese banks issued 597.8bn yuan ($90.7 billion) of new yuan loans in December, down from 708.9bn yuan in November and below the 700 billion yuan that was forecast.

The dollar rose against the pound, up 0.48%, but sank 0.71% and 0.79% against the euro and the yen respectively. Spot gold was up 1.31% to $1,092.48.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.003% from 2.100% on Thursday.

In company news, General Electric edged lower after it announced it has agreed to sell its appliance unit to Qingdao Haier.

Wells Fargo dropped as it said its fourth-quarter profit was flat as the bank continued to contend with a slump in oil prices.

Citigroup declined despite reporting a jump in fourth quarter profit as revenue rose but legal costs rose.