MW; Energy stocks clobbered by falling crude prices
By Jim Jelter
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil and gas stocks tumbled at the open Tuesday as crude-oil prices shed as much as 3% of their value. Tropical Storm Alex veered farther to the west of the Gulf of Mexico's main production region, stripping out even more of the storm premium built into oil prices last week, while equities markets were in broad retreat on renewed concerns over China's continued ability to pull up the global economy. The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 897.45, -18.46, -2.02%) was off 1.9% at 898.7 points in early trades while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 491.45, -13.25, -2.63%) was down 2.5% at 492 and the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index (OSX 167.39, -3.85, -2.25%) was off 2.3% at 167.6 points. The August crude-oil futures contract was last down $2.62 at $75.63 a barrel in New York.
