Stocks Slumped; Oil Prices Fell Further

Stocks fell again on Monday, as oil prices continued their downward spiral and showed no signs of hitting a bottom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 99.99 points, or 0.58%, to 17,180.84. The S&P 500 fell 12.70 points, or 0.63%, to 1,989.63. The Nasdaq Composite shed 48.44 points, or 1.04%, to 4,605.16.

Crude prices came under renewed selling pressure Monday after OPEC said it would not cut oil output despite fears of a glut. Benchmark Brent oil fell to nearly $60 a barrel while U.S. crude appeared to have $55 as its next major test, extending last week’s rout that wiped out about $8, or more than 10 percent, off both markets.

The Empire State manufacturing index, the first of the many regional manufacturing gauges to be released, fell to negative 3.6 in December from 10.2 in November, the New York Fed said Monday.