Stocks Opened Lower as Oil Tumbled Again

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday as a fresh drop in oil prices weighed on the broad benchmarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 45.23 points, or 0.6%, to 17,168.08. The S&P 500 shed 8.54 points, or 0.42%, to 2,013.65. The Nasdaq Composite was down 10.62 points, or 0.22%, to 4,737.85.

Oil fell around 3 percent on Monday after Iran dashed hopes of a coordinated production freeze any time soon, returning bearish sentiment to the market over a supply glut that has sent prices crashing. Brent crude futures fell back below $40 a barrel, trading at $39.20 at 1157 GMT, down $1.19 on Friday’s close. U.S. crude was down $1.13 at $37.37 a barrel.

Morgan Stanley strategists are growing increasingly concerned about the risk of a global recession, slashing forecasts for all major equity markets and advising investors to sell stocks that have recently rallied. In a report out on Monday, the bank’s global strategy team cut its 12-month target for the S&P 500 index to 2,050 from 2,175

A fight for control of the Starwood hotel chain is under way following a $14 billion buyout offer Monday from a consortium led by China’s Anbang Insurance Group. Anbang, which remains largely unknown to most Americans, has quickly positioned itself to become a major player in the U.S. hotel industry.