Energy stocks were suffering a broad beating Tuesday, as a selloff in crude prices was exacerbated by a big decline in the broader stock market. The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund XLE sank 4.4% toward a five-week low, with all 23 equity components losing ground. With the ETF (XLE), Chevron Corp.’s stock CVX slumped 4.5%, enough to pace the decliners within the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, which dropped 420 points, or 1.2%. The biggest XLE decliner was Halliburton Co.’s stock HAL, which dove 8.0%, while Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s stock OXY was the best performer, but still lost 2.2%. Among other more-active XLE components, shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM were down 3.7%, of Kinder Morgan Inc. KMI declined 2.5% and of Marathon Oil Corp. MRO slid 5.9%. Meanwhile, crude oil futures CL.1 took a 5.2%, toward the lowest settlement in more than five weeks.
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