Energy shares drag on Wall Street as crude prices fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Energy shares dragged Wall Street lower on Monday as crude prices fell further, while readings on the services sector and home sales came in below forecasts.

Brent crude oil fell below $85 a barrel and U.S. crude dipped below $80 after Goldman Sachs slashed its price forecasts, citing abundant supply and lackluster demand. The S&P 500 energy sector <.SPNY> was down 2.6 percent, the largest decline among the top ten industry groups.

The fall in crude "is probably good for consumers but there are a number of energy stocks on the S&P 500 getting hit on concern about their earnings," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Bolton Global Asset Management in Boston.

He said, however, the decline is "net positive" as it frees cash from consumers.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 25.56 points, or 0.15 percent, to 16,779.85, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 6.47 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,958.11 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 14.19 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,469.52.

Shares of Brazilian companies traded in the United States tumbled after incumbent Dilma Rousseff won reelection in a runoff vote, defeating centrist and market favorite Aecio Neves by a slim margin. Petrobras ADRs slumped 13.8 percent to $11.15 and Vale lost 5.8 percent to $10.51. Itau Unibanco fell 6.2 percent and Banco Bradesco lost 7.7 percent.

A Brazilian exchange-traded fund dropped 6.4 percent to $38.93.

The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector in October was at its slowest in six months and contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rebounded less than expected in September.

German business sentiment fell in October for a sixth straight month to its lowest level in almost two years, adding to recent concerns the largest European economy may continue to struggle to grow.

Micron shares rose 2.6 percent to $31.86 after it announced a $1 billion stock buyback authorization.

Sarepta Therapeutics shares fell 30 percent to $16.48 after it said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested additional data regarding a marketing application for its experimental muscle disorder drug.

A 5-year-old boy who arrived in the United States on Saturday from Guinea is being observed in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in New York City for possible Ebola symptoms, according to media reports on Monday.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky