Oil’s slide reins in stocks; losses widespread

Associated Press

NEW YORK

U.S. stock indexes retreated from their record heights Tuesday after a slump in the price of oil weighed on energy companies.

Losses were widespread across the market, with five stocks dropping on the New York Stock Exchange for every two that rose. Many of the sharpest declines were concentrated in the energy sector, as the price of oil touched its lowest price since mid-November.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 97 cents, or 2.2 percent, to settle at $43.23 per barrel, and Brent crude, the international standard, fell 89 cents to $46.02 per barrel.

The price of oil has been sloshing between $40 and $55 per barrel for much of the last year, down from a peak of more than $110 in the summer of 2013. Drillers have gotten much better at pulling oil from the ground, which has helped supplies to balloon and correspondingly weighed on prices.