Stocks Opened Sharply Lower as Oil Extended Slide

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday, after a sharp fall in oil and iron ore prices weighed on sentiment ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 165.05 points, or 0.93%, to 17,565.46. The S&P 500 dropped 15.92 points, or 0.77%, to 2,061.15. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.73 points, or 0.62%, to 5,070.08.

Oil prices resumed their slide on Tuesday, with U.S. crude falling below $37 per barrel for the first time since early 2009, amid fears the world was running out of capacity to store crude as a global glut intensifies. Crude futures for delivery in January traded at $36.94 a barrel, down 71 cents, or 1.9%. January Brent crude fell by 53 cents, or 1.3%, to $40.17 a barrel.

Concerns over the global mining industry grew Tuesday after London-based Anglo American said it will shed 85,000 employees — or
63 percent of its workforce — in a radical restructuring meant to cope with tumbling commodity prices.

Norfolk Southern Corp.’s stock (NSC) climbed in premarket trade Tuesday, after Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) revised it’s buyout bid for the fellow railroad company. Canadian Pacific said it believes the the revised bid is “financially more attractive and dramatically reduces the regulatory uncertainty” for Norfolk shareholders. Under the new bid, Norfolk shareholders would receive $32.86 in cash and 0.451 shares in a new company, which will own the combined companies.