Oil Spill: Crude Oil Falls Under $79

Updated with recent oil price and stock quotes.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Crude futures soured in the afternoon, plunging below $79 as reports cited a newly emboldened dollar dragging on Texas tea.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery gave up $1.82 to settle at $78.68 a barrel on Monday afternoon. On Friday, the front-month contract slipped 69 cents to settle at $80.50. But that move down came during the same week that saw the price go as high as $82, its highest mark in a year.

With renewed dollar strength and slumping commodities in the background, the financial services sector helped to pace a selloff on the major indexes, as the KBW Bank Index(BKX Quote) was down 4.1% in the afternoon.

With crude oil taking a turn, equities among the oil majors went lower in concert. Chevron(CVX Quote), ConocoPhillips(COP Quote) and Marathon Oil(MRO Quote) closed lower, down 1.6%, 2.4% and 1.6% each.

Shares of Hess(HES Quote) and Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), too, lost ground, sliding 2.6% and 0.5%.

Still, ADRs for BP(BP Quote) finished in marginally positive territory in the afternoon, up 6 cents at $55.48. BP is set to release its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday morning.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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