U.S. end mostly higher, but energy sector hit by slump in oil

It’s a big mystery just how much oil Iran will be able to pump, but it’s unlikely the country will back down despite the price crash. Futures for WTI fell 2.39% to trade at $30.66 per barrel, while Brent futures slipped 2.51% to $31.08 per barrel.

Oil major BP announced plans to cut at least 4,000 jobs in the face of oil’s sustained declines.

“At the moment not many people are expecting to see a significant rebound in oil, so prices are continuing to gush lower to multi-year lows as sentiment goes from bad to worse”, Gain Capital analyst Fawad Razaqzada told AFP. Gasoline inventories gained by 1.8 million barrels, the survey shows.

The higher supplies and lower prices haven’t stimulated a sharp rise in demand.

Iran is increasing output at fields in the West Karoun region, near the Iraqi border, and most of the crude in the new blend will come from the Yadavaran, South Azadegan and North Azadegan fields, the National Iranian Oil Co. official said, declining to be identified due to company policy.

Mining companies also fell along with metals prices. Whilst this has contributed to further geopolitical uncertainties, it is unlikely that it will have a sustained impact on oil prices.

Motorists are saving every time they fill up. The contract declined $2, or 6 percent, to $31.55 Monday, the lowest close since April 2004.

Airlines, big users of jet fuel, have posted record profits, and shippers and other businesses are also saving from cheaper energy.

The swift movements have become common on the volatile index, which has been hammered by a string of weak economic data out of China. So has a stronger US dollar, which makes oil more expensive for buyers outside the United States.

“Consumers have more money in their pocketbooks”, says Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy consultant who teaches at the University of California, Davis.

“Everyone is so consumed with the global macro picture”, said Jesse Lubarsky, equities trader at Raymond James in NY. The average price of a gallon of gasoline fell below $1.97 this week, compared with $3.68 about 18 months ago, according to AAA.

But will that reassure global investors following recent heavy stock market losses, mounting pressure on the yuan, and concerns that more corporations could default on their debts?

SOUNDS BAD: Skullcandy plunged 30.5 percent after the headphones maker slashed its 2015 sales projections and said holiday sales were worse than it expected.

Still, the S&P 500 held above the key 1900 level, as it did on Monday, which helped the rally at the start of the day, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in NY. That’s a scary thought for those who were hoping oil would soon be on the upswing.