Wall Street opens lower as surging oil prices weigh on sentiment
- Energy shares rise sharply on surging crude oil prices.
- Concerns over a global economic slowdown weigh on the sentiment.
- CBOE Volatility Index gains nearly 9% to reflect the dismal mood.
Major equity indexes in the United States started the week in the negative territory as heightened tensions in the Middle East following attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities and concerns over the potential negative impact of rising crude oil prices on the global economic growth weighed on the market sentiment. Reflecting the dismal mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is up nearly 9% on Monday.
As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were erasing 0.23% and 0.35%, respectively. Meanwhile, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate was last trading at $60.15, rising 9.6% on a daily basis.
Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is rising more than 3% to limit the S&P 500's losses. On the other hand, the Materials Index is down 1.1% and the Consumer Discretionary Index is losing 0.75% to lead the losers.
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
