U.S. stocks end a bumpy day down slightly

U.S. stocks extended their three-day losing streak Tuesday, closing slightly lower after spending most of the day wavering between gains and losses.

Energy companies led the decline as the price of U.S. crude oil sank nearly 6 percent. It’s now at about $28 a barrel. The market’s bumpy ride followed a slide in European stock indexes and steep losses in Japan, reflecting mounting investor anxiety that the global economy is slowing.

“The market continues to price in worst-case scenarios, a recessionary China and an energy sector that’s looking basically like it should go bankrupt at this level,” said Jeff Carbone, managing director of Cornerstone Financial Partners.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,014.38. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 1.23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,852.21. The Nasdaq composite lost 14.99 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,268.76.

The latest losses pulled the three indexes further down for the year. The Dow is off 8.1 percent, while the S&P 500 index is down 9.4 percent. The Nasdaq is off 14.8 percent.

Stock markets have endured a torrid start to the year as investors have fretted over a number of issues, including the fall in the price of oil to multiyear lows, a slowdown in China and whether many parts of the global economy will fall into recession and suffer a debilitating period of deflation, or falling prices.

The market veered lower early on Tuesday following wave of selling in Europe and Japan, where the Nikkei index closed 5.4 percent lower. The interest rate on the country’s benchmark bond also dropped into negative territory for the first time.

Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded early on as oil prices briefly rose, but the rally didn’t last. A late-afternoon rebound also failed to hold as oil prices closed lower for the second day in a row.

“The market’s correlation to oil has not subsided at this time,” said Carbone. “There seems to be no end in sight.”

Benchmark U.S. crude oil dropped $1.75, or 5.6 percent, to close at $27.94 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell $2.56, or 7.8 percent, to close at $30.32 a barrel in London.

All told, the S&P 500 index’s energy sector companies lost 2.5 percent, the worst performer in the index