Crude Futures Lose Ground

Milton Ezrati, a senior economist at Lord Abbett, says the recent drop in prices from more than $70 a barrel last summer may be due to the influence of speculators, and he warns of a possible overshoot to the downside.

"Looking forward from this most recent adjustment, there is, of course, a good chance that today's speculative flight from oil could bring prices down even further," he says.

Turning to the oil patch, RBC Capital Markets slashed its target price on oil-field services company Halliburton(HAL Quote) to $36 a share from $50. Traders marked down prices 1.3%.

Goldman Sachs dinged shares of electricity stock Energy East(EAS Quote) down to a sell rating from neutral, sending shares 0.4% lower. Wachovia downgraded Berry Petroleum(BRY Quote) to a market perform rating from outperform. The shares shed 1.8%.

AG Edwards trimmed back its stock price target on Occidental Petroleum(OXY Quote) to $55 a share from $59. The shares were 0.8% lower.

The U.S. Oil(USO Quote) exchange-traded fund and the iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Index(OIL Quote) ETF each lost more than 2.5%.

Major producers Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) and BP(BP Quote) fell, while Chevron(CVX Quote) edged higher.