US stocks end in the red

Big drop in crude prices batter energy and material stocks

U.S. stocks finished firmly in negative territory on Monday, 7 December 2015 as plunging oil prices walloped energy and materials stocks, partially undoing some of Friday's big rally. Equity indices retreated through the first two hours of the trading day and the lack of intraday bargain hunting kept the key averages near their lows into the afternoon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117.12 points, or 0.7%, to 17,730.51, but finished off its lows of the session after sliding more than 200 points earlier on Monday. Monday's downturn helped push the blue-chips gauge negative for the year, down 0.52%. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session 40.46 points, or 0.8%, lower at 5,101.81. The S&P 500 fell 14.62 points, or 0.7%, to close at 2,077.07.

Oil futures plunged 5.8% to $37.65 a barrel, marking their lowest settlement in nearly seven years. This slammed shares of energy companies after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries's decision on Friday to keep crude production running at current levels.

Economic data was limited to the Consumer Credit report which showed a $16.00 billion increase in October, bolstered almost entirely by a $15.80 billion increase in nonrevolving credit. The consensus estimate expected consumer credit to increase by $18.60 billion. The change in September consumer credit was revised slightly lower to $28.50 billion from $28.90 billion.

The raw commodity sector continues to suffer as its leader, crude oil, saw Nymex futures trade below $38.00 a barrel Monday. The U.S. dollar index has regained about half of its big losses suffered last Thursday, while the Euro currency has given back not quite half of its gains seen in the immediate aftermath of the ECB monetary policy easing news last Thursday.

There was no major, markets-moving world economic news for traders and investors to digest Monday. Next week's FOMC meeting is coming more into focus. The majority of traders believe the Federal Reserve will raise U.S. interest rates for the first time in nine years on December 2016.

Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Monday, 07 December 2015. Gold was moderately lower in early afternoon trading on Monday. The key outside markets were also in a bearish posture for the precious metals on Monday, as the U.S. dollar index was higher and crude oil prices were sharply lower and near a seven-year low.

February Comex gold ended down $8.00 at $1,076.20 an ounce. March Comex silver ended down $0.188 at $14.34 an ounce.

Treasuries climbed throughout the morning to end the day near their highs with the 10-yr yield down four basis points at 2.23%.

Today's retreat invited above-average participation with more than 925 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Tomorrow's data will be limited to the October Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which will be released at 10:00 ET.

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