Investing.com - Energy stocks were the biggest drag on the U.S. market Monday as oil prices tumbled on expectations Iran supply disruptions may be averted.
Crude oil futures fell about 4.5% as of 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT) and were near the lows of the day. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) stock dropped about 1.2%, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) stock was down about 1.3%, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) stock lost about 2.2% and Hess (NYSE:HES) stock lost more than 4%.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Friday in remarks embargoed for today that the U.S. would consider exceptions in placing punitive measure on countries that purchased oil from Iran.
“We want people to reduce oil purchases to zero, but in certain cases if people can’t do that overnight, we’ll consider exceptions,” Mnuchin told reporters on Friday, Reuters reported.
The S&P Energy Sector was down about 1.4% in afternoon trading.