Los commodities se tumbaron al stock market.
El petroleo cayo 3.5% y el sector energia fue el que mas bajo. El alza del petroleo amenaza al crecimiento mundial
Commodities Take Stocks Down With Them
By JONATHAN CHENG And JERRY DICOLO
NEW YORK—Major U.S. stock indexes slid close to 1% on Tuesday, and commodities plummeted, amid a rising chorus of analysts warning that high oil prices are threatening global growth.
Energy stocks fell most sharply as crude oil tumbled 3.5% to just over $106 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after finishing the previous week at a two-and-a-half-year high above $112.72.
Worries about oil gained new prominence on Tuesday when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2011 oil-demand forecast. In its own report, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said there is already evidence high oil prices are denting demand. The fear is a pullback in oil demand may be a symptom of oil prices' pressure on the broader economy.
Such fears ricocheted across stock and commodities markets.
Goldman Sachs analysts recommended selling a basket of commodities while noting "nascent signs of oil demand destruction," suggesting the months-long commodities rally may be nearing an end. The investment bank called for a "substantial pullback" of almost $20 in the price of Brent crude oil in the coming months. Brent, Europe's benchmark oil-futures contract, has been trading at a steep premium to the U.S. price on the Nymex.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103 points, or 0.8%, to 12278, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed nine points, or 0.7%, to 1316. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 25 points, or 0.9%, to 2747. Meanwhile, commodities traders sent copper down 1.7%, silver lower by 1.4% and gold down by more than 1%.
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."The recovery is a bit uneven, and these prices will have a pretty significant effect on the economy, and on people's pocketbooks," said Kurt Kinker, a market strategist at Mirus Futures in Chicago. "The prices have started to affect consumers."
The drop in U.S. markets follows similar declines globally. European and Asian bourses were broadly lower, with the Nikkei stock average falling 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finishing down 1.3%. Germany led the European indexes lower, declining 1.4% after economic sentiment fell sharply for a second straight month.
Treasurys rose broadly, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down sharply to 3.4969%. The dollar lost ground against the euro, while the yen rose sharply to ¥83.73 against the dollar, from ¥84.62 late Monday in New York.
Adding to investor unease was a report from the International Monetary Fund, which said on Monday that global economic growth will slow to 4.4% this year. The IMF also cut its growth forecast for the U.S., pointing to high energy costs as a threat to the economic recovery.
Oil's rally in the face of high unemployment in the U.S.—gasoline demand is correlated with how many people are commuting to work—is particularly remarkable, and underscores the belief that the current rally may soon run out of steam.
Crude-oil prices are down 5.8% since Friday, and futures recently traded $3.61 lower at $106.31 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. retail gasoline prices rose 11 cents last week to $3.79 a gallon, inching close to the key level of $4 a gallon that economists say will lead to cutbacks in spending by consumers. Diesel fuel, a key transportation cost, is already more than $4 a gallon.
"The market went from ignoring any bad news to waking up to $110 a barrel oil," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. He said recent economic reports, particularly from the IMF, served as a wake-up call after months of gains across both commodities and equities.
The dropoff in commodity prices added more worries to investors already concerned over geopolitical uncertainties and a weak start to the first-quarter corporate earnings season.
Alcoa shares slumped 6.3% to lead the Dow components after the aluminum producer late Monday reported earnings that topped expectations but revenue that fell short of forecasts. The company also warned of higher energy and raw-material costs.
"This earnings season, there are a lot more big-picture events going on. I don't think they're necessarily going to send us back into a recession, but it puts a drag on everything," said Mikel Keifer, investment strategist with Jurika, Mills & Keifer in San Francisco. Mr. Keifer said he expects companies to meet earnings expectations but to take a more cautious stance as they offer guidance on future quarters, given the range of global uncertainties.
Write to Jonathan Cheng at
jonathan.cheng@wsj.com and Jerry DiColo