Stocks weighed down by drop in oil price

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Another steep drop in the price of oil weighed on global markets Tuesday. Investors remained deeply concerned about the global economy following this week’s disappointing Chinese and U.S. manufacturing data.

Energy stocks fell as oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported their worst quarterly results in more than a decade. In the technology sector, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, overtook Apple as the world’s most-valuable publicly traded company.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 295.64 points, or 1.8 percent, to 16,153.54. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 36.35 points, or 1.9 percent, 1,903.03 and the Nasdaq composite fell 103.42 points, or 2.2 percent, to 4,516.95.

It’s a busy week on the economic-data front, particularly in the U.S., where the week ends with monthly payroll figures. So far, the numbers haven’t impressed. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of factory activity pointed to a contraction, and China’s official survey found that manufacturing fell to its lowest level in more than three years.

The weak manufacturing reports weighed heavily on oil prices, and the selling pressure continued Tuesday. Benchmark U.S. oil slumped $1.74, or 5.5 percent, to close at $29.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a day after it plunged nearly 6 percent. Brent crude lost $1.52, or 4.4 percent, to $32.72 a barrel in London.