U.S. stocks close lower as spike in crude oil rattles market

Airlines, cruise lines and other companies in fuel-dependent industries dragged U.S. stocks lower Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil processing facility sent crude prices soaring.

The U.S. and international benchmarks for crude each vaulted more than 14% — that’s comparable to the 14.5% spike in oil on Aug. 6, 1990, following Iraq’s invasion of

Kuwait.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to break a streak of eight consecutive gains. The S&P 500, while down modestly, had its biggest decline in two weeks. American Airlines was the biggest decliner in the index.

Shares of oil producers jumped, while prices for Treasurys, gold and other investments seen as less risky rose.

The weekend attack halted production of 5.7 million barrels of crude a day, more than half of Saudi Arabia’s global daily exports and more than 5% of the world’s daily crude oil production. President Donald Trump warned that the United States was “locked and loaded” to respond as his administration pinned the blame on Iran, which supports the Yemeni rebels who took credit for the attack.

The attack raised worries about the risk of more disruptions in the supply of oil at a time when the global economy’s strength is seen as shaky.

Still, analysts expressed doubts that the disruption in Saudi Arabia’s oil production would have much of an impact on the U.S. economy, at least in the short term.

“From a global perspective, there’s probably a concern,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. “From a U.S. perspective, we produce more now than we used to, and our economy is less dependent on oil than it used to be.”

The S&P 500 fell 9.43 points, or 0.3%, to 2,997.96. That’s the index’s largest loss since Sept. 3.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 142.70 points to 27,076.82. The Nasdaq lost 23.17 points, or 0.3%, to 8,153.54.

Small stocks in the Russell 2000 were better performers. The index rose 6.46 points, or 0.4%, to 1,584.60.

Major stock indexes in Europe also fell. Markets in Asia finished mixed.