Stocks tumble with commodities; crude at 2009 low
NEW YORK - U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Tuesday, echoing a global rout in the industrial and mining sectors, as the price of oil wavered near a seven-year low.
"The biggest drag in the market right now is commodity prices. This is day four post OPEC meeting of deciding they are not going to change a thing they are doing," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities told CBS MoneyWatch. "Instead of changing their quota, they decided to tell us the truth, that they've actually been producing 31.5 million barrels a day instead of 30 million."
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 106 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,625 as of 11:27 a.m. ET. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 9 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,068, with industrial and materials leading the losses that extended to eight of its 10 major industry groups. The Nasdaq composite dropped 4 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,098.
A weak economic report from China had that nation's imports sliding for a 13th month, furthering the view of declining demand for raw materials from the world's second-biggest economy. Nickel, zinc and copper all fell, and iron ore dropped to a record low.
Chipotle Mexican Grill shares declined sharply after 30 Boston College students became sick after eating at one of the chain's restaurants during the weekend.
United Natural Foods dropped after the distributor of organic and natural food reported a quarterly profit below expectations.