Energy sector’s slump sends stock market modestly lower

NEW YORK — Stocks closed modestly lower Friday as oil titans Exxon Mobil and Chevron led a slump in energy stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 56.12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,689.86. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 4.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,103.92. The Nasdaq composite closed little changed, down half a point to 5,128.28.

Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest publicly traded energy companies, fell roughly 5 percent each on Friday. Both companies posted major declines in their year-over-year profits largely due to the big drop in the price of oil.

In the case of Exxon, earnings fell 52 percent from a year earlier, causing the company to report its lowest quarterly profit since June 2009. Exxon shares fell $3.80, or 4.6 percent, to $79.21.

Chevron reported its lowest profit in 13 years. The company reported a profit of 30 cents a share, well below the $1.13 analysts expected. Chevron fell $4.55, or 4.9 percent, to $88.48.

Exxon and Chevron dragged down other energy stocks. The S&P 500 energy sector slumped 2.6 percent, its biggest drop since January.

Even with oil prices down more than 50 percent from a year ago, crude has continued to fall. Oil prices declined sharply again Friday, helping push oil down 21 percent for the month.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.40 to close at $47.12 a barrel in New York. Crude fell $12.35 a barrel during the month, from $59.47 at the end of June. Brent crude fell $1.10 to close at $52.21 in London.

Wholesale gasoline rose 1.3 cents to close at $1.841 a gallon. Heating oil fell 1.4 cents to close at $1.584 a gallon. Natural gas fell 5.2 cents to close at $2.716 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices rose, pushing the 10year U.S. Treasury note down to 2.19 percent from 2.26 percent on Thursday.

In currencies, the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 123.90 yen and the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.0985.

In metals trading, gold rose $6.50 to $1,095.90 an ounce and silver rose 5 cents to $14.75 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $2.43 per pound.