U.S. stocks slide along with the price of crude

Stocks saw modest decline in the U.S., led by declines in energy companies.

"One of the driving issues behind the problems facing the markets is the pressure on crude-oil prices," wrote Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth. "Crude has been dropping because of the excess inventory levels combined with less demand."

Energy companies once again suffered the biggest losses as the price of oil took another tumble. Chevron (CVX) led declines on the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 13 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 16,014.

The Nasdaq composite declined 15 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,269. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost a point to 1,852.

Consol Energy sank 12 percent. Entertainment conglomerate Viacom plunged 21 percent after missing revenue estimates for the fifth quarter in a row.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures dropped nearly 5 percent to $23.33 a barrel.

Overseas, Japan's market slumped 5.4 percent.