U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds slightly weakened Wednesday as the ongoing rout in energy more than offset a jump in the healthcare sector.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were 0.1% lower Tuesday.
Dragging on U.S. markets, energy company stocks in the S&P 500 declined 1.7% Tuesday as West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slipped 3.0% to $42.2 per barrel.
Crude oil prices have fallen over 20% into bear market territory as a global supply glut continues to depress prices, despite efforts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output. Oil prices are on pace for their largest slide in the first half of any year since 1997, reports Sruthi Shankar for Reuters.