US oil prices drop below zero for the very first time in history
Wall Street fell sharply on Monday after US crude futures turned negative for the very first time ever sold, underscoring the chaos the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed on the global economy.
The S&P energy index tumbled 2.8% following the front-month May U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract turned negative - unprecedented in history - with sellers offering buyers $37.63 a barrel.
With a lot of the global economy suspended as a result of coronavirus, physical demand for crude has dry out, creating a worldwide supply glut as billions of people stay home.
"Oil down is generally good for all of those other sectors, but you could make the argument that it's so low that it's not good for anybody in terms of what it will do to unemployment and financial growth," said Jake Dollarhide, ceo of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
At 2:26 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.79% at 23,807.69 points, as the S&P 500 lost 1.27% to 2,838.15.
