Energy, materials shares drag market lower

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Energy shares were dragging the market lower on Tuesday alongside those in the materials space as oil prices tumbled to their lowest in more than two years and gold and copper fell.

The energy sector of the S&P 500 <.SPNY> slipped further into correction territory, falling 10.7 percent from its year high set three months ago. However, it is still posting gains for the year so far, up 1.1 percent.

Commodities prices were pressured by continued strength in the U.S. dollar. The greenback surged to a four-year high against a basket of currencies <.DXY> and a two-year high against the euro .

The Thomson Reuters Jefferies CRB commodity index <.TRJCRB> was down 1.6 percent, on track for its largest daily decline since June 2013.

Copper prices were off 1.1 percent while spot gold was falling for a third straight session, taking the precious metal to levels not seen in nine months.

The S&P 500 materials index <.SPLRCM> fell 1.1 percent, taking its slide so far this week to 1.6 percent, the largest two-day drop in the index in two months.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky