While you were sleeping: Oil weighs on equities, again

Equities on both sides of the Atlantic slid as did the price of oil as Iraq added to the global supply glut, bolstering the appeal of safe-haven investments such as US Treasurys and gold.

Oil dropped as Iraq's oil ministry told Reuters the country had record output in December, with its fields in the central and southern regions producing as much as 4.13 million barrels a day, while a senior Iraqi oil official said separately the country may lift output this year.

Also, Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, said it is not easing investments in its oil and gas production capacity.

"Our investments in oil and gas have not slowed down – we have been able to do a lot of cuts in spending by simply driving down costs," Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih told a business conference in Riyadh.

Brent crude settled at $US30.50 a barrel in New York, while US crude was at $US30.34 a barrel, each more than 4% lower on the day.

Treasury yields fall
US Federal Reserve policy makers are about to start a regularly scheduled two-day meeting on Tuesday, and investors are looking to see if the global financial market turmoil since last month's gathering has altered the outlook for interest rate increases this year.

"We could get a dovish message" on Wednesday, Michael Hanson, US senior economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told Bloomberg.

The bank expects the Fed will raise rates three times this year, fewer than the four increases forecast by policy makers in December.

US Treasurys rose, pushing yields on 10-year notes three basis points lower to 2.02%.

Gold also strengthened, with bullion for immediate delivery adding 0.6% to $US1105.40 an ounce.

Wall Street loses most in final hour
Stocks on Wall Street moved lower, dropping sharply in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 208.29 points, or 1.3%, at 15,885.22, while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.6% to 4518.49 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index also fell 1.6% to 1877.08.

The Dow fell as slides in shares of Caterpillar and those of Goldman Sachs, last down 4.1% and 2.6% respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Wal-Mart Stores and those of Verizon Communications, last up 1.4% and 1.1% respectively.

Shares of Caterpillar fell after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the stock to "sell."

Bucking the trend, shares of McDonald's rose, up 0.7%, after the fast-food chain posted same-store sales that exceeded expectations.

"We are demonstrating that our turnaround plan is key to restarting growth and becoming a modern and progressive burger company," McDonald's chief executive officer Steve Easterbrook said in a statement. "As we enter 2016, we expect continued positive top-line momentum across all segments."

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a 0.6% decline from the previous close. Germany's DAX Index gave up 0.3%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.4%, while France's CAC 40 Index slid 0.6%.

UPDATED to reflect Wall Street close at 10am (NZ time)

(BusinessDesk)