US stock indexes decline sharply, as plunging oil prices worry investors


US stocks tumbled in trade on Monday as renewed concerns about the eurozone sent the euro to a nine-year low.About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,655.68, down 177.31 points (0.88 percent).The Dow Jones fell 377.22 points, or 1.9%, to 17,495 in afternoon trading.The broader S&P 500 index shed 40.52 points, or 2%, at 2,017, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 85.09 points or 1.8% to 4,641.Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany were all off at least 1.4 percent as traders looked ahead to a January 25 election in Greece. The far-left Syriza party, a critic of austerity policies imposed in international bailouts, has led by three-six points in polls.Over the weekend, the Der Spiegel weekly quoted German government sources as saying that Berlin sees a Greek exit from the eurozone as "almost inevitable" should Syriza win the snap poll.The euro also fell on speculation the European Central Bank could soon enact more stimulus to try to lift the weak 19-nation eurozone economy.Oil prices retreated again early Monday, unsettling markets on the "possibility that there could be some latent financial, or economic, risk in the plummeting price of" crude, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.Petroleum-related stocks suffered a pullback. Marathon Oil fell 3.4 percent, drilling company Transocean sank 5.9 percent and oil-services giant Schlumberger dropped 2.8 percent.Dow member Caterpillar fell 3.9 percent after JPMorgan Chase lowered its recommendation on the company. Oil company Chevron shed 2.7 percent on a downgrade by Citigroup.Dow member Coca-Cola rose 0.4 percent following an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, which predicted the soft drinks maker's sales and profit margins would rise in 2015.Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.08 percent from 2.12 percent Friday, while the 30-year declined to 2.65 percent from 2.70 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.