US: Petroleum-linked shares tumble as stocks retreat

WALL Street stocks fell again on Wednesday, extending a gloomy week as the job market cooled further and oil prices tumbled.

The US private sector added 103,000 jobs in November, according to the latest ADP report, below October’s level and well under analyst estimates.

The figures follow Tuesday’s report of a drop in job openings and ahead of Friday’s monthly government data.

Meanwhile, US crude oil prices fell more than four per cent to finish below US$70 a barrel for the first time in five months, denting petroleum-linked shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent to 36,054.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 per cent to 4,549.34,while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 14,146.71.

Stocks have been choppy so far in December as markets have struggled to add to gains from a strong November, when equities were boosted by expectations the Federal Reserve would refrain from additional restrictive actions.

Among individual companies, Avis Budget Group rose 2.8 per cent after announcing a special dividend of 10 cents per share.

Campbell Soup climbed 7.1 per cent as it reported better than expected profits as it confirmed its forecasts while saying the company is off to “an encouraging start” in the holiday season.

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Petroleum-linked shares were under pressure, with Apache down 2.2 per cent and Halliburton 3.6 per cent.

ExxonMobil dropped 1.3 per cent despite announcing a medium-term investment plan that includes an increased pace in share repurchases to US$20 billion per year. AFP