Oil price goes negative as demand collapses; stocks dip

NEW YORK (AP) Oil prices plunged below zero on Monday as demand for energy collapses amid the coronavirus pandemic and traders didn’t want to get stuck owning crude oil with nowhere to store it.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil for May delivery fell to negative $3.70 per barrel.

While the foray into negative territory was largely due to technical reasons, prices for other oil contracts also plummeted as storage facilities for crude come close to hitting their limits.

The S&P 500 was down 0.9%, giving up some of its big gains following its first back-to-back weekly gain since February.