Stock futures plummet on oil shock, virus fears

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures plunged on Monday after Saudi Arabia launched an oil price war with Russia, sending crude tumbling 25% and intensifying fears about a global recession.

The Dow Jones Industrials index () was set to fall over 1,300 points at the open, with Chevron Corp (N:) and Exxon Mobil Corp (N:) slumping about 12% in premarket trading. All 30 blue-chip components were in the red.

Futures contracts for all three main Wall Street indexes hit a 5% daily down limit overnight.

Crude prices logged their worst day in almost three decades as Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling price after Russia refused to cut output to match lower demand on the back of the coronavirus outbreak. [O/R]

The health crisis, which has now infected more than 110,000 people globally, has crippled supply chains and prompted cuts to global growth forecasts for 2020.

Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to again cut interest rates next week after an emergency reduction on March 3, putting the yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury () on course for its biggest one-day fall in almost a decade. [US/]

Shares of rate-sensitive U.S. banks Citigroup Inc (N:), Bank of America Corp (N:), JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:), Goldman Sachs (N:), Wells Fargo & Co (N:) and Morgan Stanley (N:) slid between 7.4% and 9.6%.

Marathon Oil Corp (N:), Devon Energy Corp (N:), Apache Corp (N:), Pioneer Natural Resources Co (N:) slipped between 22% and 28% and were some of the biggest losers among S&P 500 components.

At 7:12 a.m. ET, were down 1,255 points, or 4.87%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 145 points, or 4.89% and were down 410 points, or 4.82%.

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