Plunging Oil Price Sinks Energy Stocks

An early rally on the stock market was largely gone by the closing bell as another plunge in the price of oil sank energy stocks, the AP reports. US crude fell to its lowest price since August 2017 Tuesday and is now down nearly 40% since early October. Exxon Mobil gave up 2.8%. Oil prices have dropped sharply as oil supplies increased and demand weakened as the global economy slows down. Technology and industrial stocks rose. The S&P 500 edged up less than a point to 2,546. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82 points, or 0.4%, to 23,675. It lost just over 1,000 in the previous two days. The Nasdaq rose 30 points, or 0.4%, to 6,783. More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange. (Recent stock market woes have raised a nagging fear.)