Oil Prices Weigh on Stocks

Updated from 4:14 p.m. EDT

Stocks closed lower for a second session Monday as oil prices surged 3%, leaving traders on edge ahead of the upcoming Federal Reserve policymaking meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 20.97 points, or 0.19%, to 11,219.38, and the S&P 500 fell 3.59 points, or 0.28%, at 1275.77. The Nasdaq Composite declined by 12.55 points, or 0.6%, to 2072.50. The 10-year Treasury was down 6/32 in price to yield 4.92%, while the dollar rose against the euro and fell against the yen.

Pressuring the indices was the advance in crude. The price of a barrel of oil jumped after BP(BP Quote) said it was stopping production at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to repair a leak in a pipeline. The shutdown removes up to 400,000 barrels a day from the world's supply. In Nymex floor trading, September crude gained $2.22 to close at $76.98 a barrel, having briefly topped its all-time closing high of $77.03 intraday. ...