Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday erasing some of their gains from late last week, as crude futures slumped to near seven-year lows, pushing down energy stocks on all three major indices.
Crude futures in the U.S. dipped below $38 a barrel, as energy traders digested OPEC's decision on Friday to leave its production ceiling unchanged for at least the next six months until it meets again at a semiannual meeting next June. Heading into the closely watched meeting, investors were hopeful that OPEC leaders could provide markets with some direction to address crashing prices that have fallen more than 80% over the last 18 months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 117.12 or 0.66% to 17,730.51, while the NASDAQ Composite index dropped 40.46 or 0.79% to end Monday's session at 5,101.81 on a bearish day for stocks. The S&P 500 Composite index also lost 14.62 or 0.70% to 2,077.07, as stocks in eight of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Energy and Basic Materials industries lagged, each falling by more than 1.85% on the day. Energy stocks fell by roughly 3.85% during Monday's sell-off.
Although stocks pared some of their losses late in Monday's session, the major indices still closed down for the third time in four sessions.
The top performer on the Dow was Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), which gained 0.96 to 1.61% to 60.62. Last week, Wal-Mart (N:WMT)'s Puerto Rico unit the government of the island, citing unfair tax increases on imports from offshore subsidiaries. The worst performer was Exxon Mobil Corporation (N:XOM), which lost 2.09 or 2.65% to 76.77. As oil prices have touched down to historic lows, ExxonMobil (N:XOM) shares have lost more than 16% over the last year.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was GMCR, which surged 37.30 or 72.15% to 89.00 after the coffee company was sold to an investor group led by JAB Holdings for $13.9 billion. The holding company owns a majority stake in several prominent coffee companies, including Peet's Coffee & Tea and Caibou Coffee Company. The deal bolsters the Reimann Family's position in coffee holdings throughout North America. Shares in Keurig Green Mountain (O:GMCR) have slumped by more than 60% over the last year, amid poor sales and struggles with the rollout of its new cold-beverage machine.
The worst performer was SPLS, which plummeted 1.67 or 13.51% to 10.69 after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint to challenge the Massachusetts-base company's $6.3 billion merger with Office Depot Inc (O:ODP). The deal could significantly curtail competition in the office supply market, the FTC said in a statement.
"The Commission has reason to believe that the proposed merger between Staples and Office Depot is likely to eliminate beneficial competition that large companies rely on to reduce the costs of office supplies," FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement issued with the decision.
Keurig Green Mountain was also the top performer on the S&P 500, just ahead of NRG Energy Inc (N:NRG), which gained 0.50 or 5.56% to 9.50. The worst performer was CONSOL Energy Inc (N:CNX), which lost 1.17 or 15.09% to 6.46. Shares in Consol Energy have also suffered dramatically by the decline in crude prices this year, losing more than 75% over the last 12 months of trading.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 2,476 to 617 margin.