Stocks Off Session Lows Even as Crude Sinks Energy Sector

Stocks come back from session lows by mid-afternoon Monday afternoon even as crude oil settles below $44.
By Keris Alison Lahiff ,

Stocks came back from session lows by mid-afternoon Monday afternoon even as crude oil settled below $44. 

The S&P 500 fell 0.45%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.57%, and the Nasdaq was down 0.16%. The S&P 500 and Dow enjoyed a string of record closes throughout last week. 

Crude fell to two-and-a-half-month lows on Monday due to an expected decline in U.S. refinery activity. Barclays said global oil demand in the current quarter was growing at less than one-third the rate of a year earlier.

Morgan Stanley noted that headwinds such as U.S. oversupply and falling demand were growing in the second half of the year. Analysts cut their global refinery demand forecast for crude to 625,000 barrels a day, down from 800,000. 

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.4% to $43.14 a barrel on Monday.

"Upcoming scheduled refinery maintenance work really shouldn't come as a surprise and we see this as more of a background factor that may be reinforcing the evolving bearish market sentiment rather than a key shift in the underlying supply/demand balance," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi. 

The energy sector was the worst performer on markets Monday. Major oilers Chevron (CVX) - Get Report , Exxon Mobil (XOM) - Get Report , BP (BP) - Get Report  and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) were each lower, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) - Get Report fell 2.1%. 

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee will convene on Tuesday for a two-day meeting, followed by an announcement on Wednesday afternoon. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen won't hold a press conference following the meeting.

Investors are fairly confident the Fed will not make a move in July, though the Fed statement will be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb for hints as to when the central bank might adjust its monetary policy. A rate hike in July currently has a 2.4% probability, according to CME Group Fed funds futures. A December rate hike is the most likely with a 40% chance.

"Despite favorable domestic data releases and the resolution of the U.K.-Leave vote, we do not expect a rate hike at the July meeting," UBS analysts wrote in a note. "The FOMC will most likely acknowledge the data updates as encouraging signs for the economy and note that they will continue to monitor global financial developments."

Verizon (VZ) - Get Report agreed to acquire Yahoo!'s (YHOO) core Internet business for $4.8 billion after a months-long bidding process with multiple parties. Other potential candidates had included AT&T and private-equity firm TPG. Verizon's acquisition adds Yahoo!'s media companies including Yahoo Finance and Tumblr to Verizon's ad and media business, which includes last year's purchase of AOL. Yahoo! shares slipped 2.2% while Verizon shares fell slightly.

In earnings news, Sprint (S) - Get Report jumped 26% after its quarterly loss widened but sales topped estimates. The telecom giant, as expected by analysts, reported a per-share loss of 8 cents a share, wider than its loss of a penny a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue of $8.01 billion came in higher than $7.99 billion consensus. Sprint reported postpaid net additions of 173,000 over its first quarter.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) - Get Report fell 2% after topping second-quarter expectations but guiding for a softer-than-expected full year. The home goods company earned an adjusted $1.53 a share, 6 cents above estimates, while revenue of $4.59 billion exceeded estimates of $5.57 billion. Kimberly-Clark anticipates adjusted full-year earnings between $5.95 and $6.15 a share. Consensus was for $6.08.

Ericsson (ERIC) - Get Report added 1.1% after its board of directors agreed "the time is right" to find a new CEO. Shareholders had called for current CEO Hans Vestberg to be replaced. Chief Financial Officer Jan Frykhammar will hold the CEO position while an internal and external candidate search is undertaken.

A Fort Myers, Fla., shooting at a club hosting an event for teenagers has left two people dead and at least 14 more injured early Monday. Two suspects have been detained for questioning. Police confirmed the nightclub shooting was "not an act of terror."

Loading ...