Dow Plunges 331 Points, Crude Oil Briefly Below $50 -- U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks tumbled along with crude oil prices Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst daily loss in three months.

Crude oil briefly plunged below $50 for the first time in more than five years. Concerns that Greece may depart the euro zone also kept markets on edge throughout the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 331.21 points, or 1.9 percent, to 17,501.78, with all but two of thirty Dow components ending in the red. The S&P 500 declined 37.61 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,020.59.

The Nasdaq dropped 74.24 points, or 1.6 percent, to 4,652.57.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, plunged $2.65 or 5.0 percent to close at $50.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.

Energy stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index plunging 4.5 percent.

Gold stocks bucked the downtrend as traders valued the precious metal for its safe haven appeal. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index was up 1.9 percent.

Automakers reported robust U.S. vehicle sales for the month of December, helped by an improving economy, rising consumer confidence, low interest rates and falling fuel prices. Still, auto stocks struggled along with railroads and and trucking companies.

Caterpillar (CAT) dropped 5.3 percent after JP Morgan downgraded its rating on the company's stock to Underweight from Neutral.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index surged up by 3.6 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased by 3.78 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 2.47 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined by 2.99 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell by 3.31 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. fell by 2 percent and the SMI of Switzerland lost 0.50 percent.

The euro dropped to a 9-year low against the U.S. dollar.