Stock market news: Dow drops, oil hits lowest level in over a year

Traders
and financial professionals work ahead of the closing bell on the
floor on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), October 26, 2018 in
New York City. The Dow Jones Industrial average was down nearly
another 300 points at the close on Friday. Disappointing earnings
numbers from key technology companies, including Amazon and
Alphabet, were driving forces for the markets’
slide.

Drew
Angerer/Getty Images

• Stocks fell Friday amid concerns about ongoing trade tensions
  and economic growth.
• Oil hit its lowest level since late 2017 ahead of an OPEC
  meeting December 6.
• Trading volume was expected to be lighter Friday due to the
  Thanksgiving holiday.

Stocks fell Friday as technology
shares continued to slip and after oil prices hit their lowest
levels in more than a year as Wall Street worried about ongoing
trade tensions and the prospect of slowing economic growth around
the world.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average
slid 0.4%, or about 100 points, and the S&P 500 shed 0.3%.
The Nasdaq Composite was mostly flat, keeping the index on track
for its largest weekly decline in eight months. Retail shares
found some relief, however, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF up
0.34%.

Trade-sensitive stocks were
lower, with
Boeing down 0.5%
and
Caterpillar off by more than 1%. Proposed tariff escalations
will be on the line as President Donald Trump meets with Chinese
leader Xi Jinping at a multilateral summit in Argentina November
30 and December 1.

“The overall market mood remains
cautious with investors on guard, and this sentiment continues to
be reflected across global equity markets,” said Lukman Otunuga,
a research analyst at FXTM. “With a strong sense of anticipation
mounting ahead of the G20 summit next week, Wall Street may trade
lower as investors stroll to the side lines.”

Oil plummeted deeper into
bear-market territory, hitting its lowest level in more than a
year as investors fretted over the prospect of oversupply and
dampened demand.

West Texas
Intermediate

was just
above $51 per barrel, and


Brent

slid below $60 a
barrel. Energy stocks, including Chevron (-3%) and ExxonMobil
(-2.5%), sank on the back of the decline.

Crude prices have shed more than
20% since the beginning of November, when the Trump
administration announced exceptions to oil sanctions against
Iran. Investors are awaiting a meeting between OPEC and other
countries led by Russia on December 6, where the cartel will
decide whether to cut coordinated output levels.

Treasury yields fell as investors
moved toward the relative safety of US government bonds, with the
10-year yield down 2.6 basis points to 3.035%. The dollar,
meanwhile, jumped 0.34% against a basket of peers.

Trading volume was expected to be
lighter Friday, with the stock market scheduled to close at 1
p.m. ET. It had been closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.

Get the latest Oil WTI price here.