Sector Snap: Airlines Fall Amid Market Sell-off

NEW YORK (AP) — Airline stocks sputtered Friday amid a broader market downturn, despite a dip in oil prices.

Major stock indexes tumbled more than 2 percent in afternoon trading on a government report that said consumer spending dropped last month. The Dow Jones industrials gave back all of Thursday's 200-point gain. The biggest declines were among banks, energy and materials companies.

Benchmark crude for December delivery fell $2.87 to settle at $77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.41 to settle at $79.87 on Thursday and has traded near $80 a barrel all week. But retail gasoline prices reached a new peak for the year.

The Amex Airline Index fell 3.6 percent to 23.72.

In afternoon trading, US Airways lost the most among major airlines, falling 7.2 percent to $2.98. United parent UAL Corp. gave up 3.2 percent to reach $6.22, while Delta Air Lines Inc. fell 4 percent to $7.07.