The energy sector is headed for a second-straight selloff to start the new year, as crude oil prices kept slumping on concerns over a global economic slowdown. The SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF XLE dropped 1.3% in premarket trading, with all 23 equity components losing ground, after falling 3.5% on Tuesday. The ETF (XLE) was the best performing SPDR tracker of the S&P 500’s SPX 11 sectors in 2022, as it soared 57.6% last year, but is so far the worst performer this year. Among the more-active XLE components ahead of Wednesday’s open, shares of Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY, which was the S&P 500’s top performer in 2022 with a 117.3% gain, lost 1.8% in Tuesday’s premarket after shedding 3.1% on Tuesday. Elsewhere, shares of Phillips 66 PSX declined 1.5% premarket, Marathon Oil Corp. MRO gave up 1.7%, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM fell 1.4% and Devon Energy Corp. DVN was down 1.8%. Meanwhile, crude oil futures CL.1 slumped 2.5%, after dropping 4.1% on Tuesday, while S&P 500 futures ES00 rose 0.6% after giving up 0.4% on Tuesday.
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