U.S. stocks are mixed as oil price spike stokes inflation fears

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday after a surprise output cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies stoked inflation fears and weighed on growth stocks.

At 10:32 ET (14:32 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 335 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.3%.

Oil cartel members announced on Sunday that they will cut another 1.1 million barrels a day from production amid concern about market uncertainty. That is in addition to the two million barrels a day cut they agreed to last fall. Crude prices spiked overnight on the news.

Rising crude prices could pressure global inflation, something the Biden administration has been battling by calling on producers to raise their output. Rising oil prices will eventually make their way to gasoline prices at the pump, which are down about $1.50 a gallon from this time last year.

This puts the Federal Reserve in a tough spot. It is trying to fight inflation with interest rate increases, but recent turmoil in the banking sector has tightened credit conditions. Until Sunday, futures traders were betting that the Fed might pause when it next meets in May, but as of Monday morning, the market’s bets have shifted in favor of another quarter of a percentage point increase.

Shares of oil companies were rising. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shares were up 4.6%, while Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) shares rose 5.6%. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) shares rose 9.8% and Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) shares rose 5.2%.

The Fed will have more data to consider from this week’s economic reports, including the March jobs report, which comes out on Friday, and the JOLTs job opening and ADP private payrolls numbers.

Stocks are starting out the second quarter after the S&P notched a 7% gain in the first quarter, and the Nasdaq rose 17%.

Oil jumped. Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 6.2% to $80.38 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures were up 6.2% to $84.75 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.9% to $2,003.