perceptions_now
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Australian Politics
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perceptions_now wrote on Jan 16 th, 2016 at 9:55am: Oil Prices Drive Stocks Rout: Dow Sheds Nearly 400 Points Plunging oil prices pounded U.S. stock markets again on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down nearly 400 points , or more than 2 percent, and the other indices taking similar beatings.Earlier the Dow had been down nearly 537 points .The Dow and S&P 500 have now fallen about 8 percent this year, while the Nasdaq is off more than 10 percent.An International Atomic Energy Agency report verifying whether Iran has kept its promises under a nuclear deal reached last year with world powers is likely to be issued on Saturday, paving the way for sanctions relief and the widespread resumption of Iranian oil shipments, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Friday. Iranian and other officials had previously said they expected the report to come out on Friday. Bracing for the decision, traders drove the price of crude oil down past the symbolically important $30 a barrel level.
U.S. crude oil settled at $29.42 a barrel, down $1.78, or 5.71 percent. It was the first time in 12 years that it had finished trading under $30.The steep slump in crude from over $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014 has eviscerated energy company profits and made it much harder for them to pay off their debts.Still, some traders said the market was overselling on oil's woes, given the continued strength of the overall U.S. economy. But evidence of a fourth-quarter slowdown, weaker than expected U.S. retail sales for December , continued to mount. And the Federal Reserve reported that U.S. industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities, dropped in December for the third month in a row.Investors also were spooked by expectations of disappointing earnings reports for companies hit by plunging oil prices, and indications that China will report its weakest full-year growth figure in 25 years on Tuesday .Economists said the expansion of the Chinese economy was held back by sluggish domestic and external demand, weak investments, factory overcapacity and high property inventories, which exacerbated deflationary pressures in the economy.The U.S. markets' down day continued a rout that began when Shanghai Composite Index finished down 3.6 percent, sliding to its lowest close since Dec. 8, 2014.Stocks opened higher in Europe but quickly fell. Germany's DAX lost 3.1 percent, while France's CAC 40 dropped 2.9 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.4 percent.http://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/u-s-stock-market-dow-plunges-oil-prices-...============================================ It should be noted that it is likely that the FedRes may have "assisted" a little, when the DOW was Down 537 in mid session and again, when it was Down some 415 points, with 2 minutes left in the session, before finally closing Down 391.
It should also be noted that Oil actually "settled" at $29.70, after reaching a session low of $29.19.
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