The price of oil and gold has fallen while the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds has also fallen. FOX Business’ Stuart Varney with more.
Exxon Mobil shares fell for a ninth day Monday on the way to their lowest close in more than nine years as the widening coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh on oil prices and energy-related names.
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Shares of the Houston-based oil giant fell over 2 percent, finishing at their lowest level since October 2010. The drop came as oil prices slid amid concerns the coronavirus outbreak, which has caused the quarantine of more than 40 million people in China, could stunt global economic growth.
Chevron and other energy names fell in sympathy.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION | 64.74 | -1.58 | -2.38% |
| CVX | CHEVRON CORP. | 110.39 | -1.46 | -1.31% |
| HAL | HALLIBURTON COMPANY | 21.65 | -1.45 | -6.28% |
| XLE | ENERGY SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF | 55.05 | -1.57 | -2.77% |
The outbreak of the virus could “result in negative consequences for the overall economy and markets,” J.P. Morgan’s Asia Pacific Equity Research team said in a note to clients.
Since the virus was identified on Jan. 7, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, has fallen by 15.5 percent to $52.96 per barrel. Historically we have seen crude weigh on Exxon shares.
The drop in oil prices has pummeled Exxon and its rivals. Over that time, Exxon has fallen by 7.9 percent while rivals Chevron and Haliburton have fallen 7.3 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively.
But even before the virus’ outbreak, there were some headwinds forming against Exxon.
On Jan. 3, Exxon said in a regulatory filing that its fourth-quarter results would decline from the prior year due to weakness in chemicals and refining.
The admission caused several analysts on Wall Street to lower their outlooks for the stock.
“XOM released updated thoughts around the drivers affecting profitability in 4Q highlighted by ongoing headwinds to chemicals and downstream segments – the impacts of which exceeded our expectations and drive a rather material 30% haircut to our EPS (adj) estimate for 4Q (to $0.52 vs. a prior $0.78 and vs. consensus of $0.76),” Ryan Todd, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., wrote in a note to clients.
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Exxon shares are down 5 percent this year, lagging the S&P 500’s 0.4 percent gain.
