NEW YORK — Energy companies are leading a decline on the stock market as crude oil continues to tumble.
The price of oil dropped another 5 percent Monday to $46 a barrel. That's far below its recent peak of more than $100 a barrel last June. The slump means much lower profits for energy companies, even though consumers benefit by paying less for gas.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 96 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,640. Exxon Mobil and Chevron lost the most in the 30-stock index.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 16 points, 0.8 percent, to 2,028. The Nasdaq composite fell 39 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,664.
Tiffany slumped 14 percent, the most in the S&P 500 index, after the jewelry retailer cut its full-year profit forecast.
