Wall Street Tumbles on Oil, Retail Fears

A third straight week of falling oil prices pushed U.S. oil futures down another 6 percent on Friday to a low of $29.28 a barrel - the first time it has reached that level since 2003. Traders fear that the market will be inundated more if sanctions against Iranian exports are lifted and that country’s crude contributes to the glut of supply. The State Department indicated Iran had completed a key step in conditions to lift sanctions by destroying a major nuclear reactor.

The latest report on retail sales released by the Commerce Department added to the pressure on stocks Friday, as data showed purchases dipped 0.1 percent in December to $448.1 billion after climbing 0.4 percent in November. During 2015 purchases climbed 2.1 percent, which is the smallest advance since 2009. Major decline reflects the lower cost of gasoline.

Major U.S. retailers have shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years, and Walmart announced the latest wave of closures on Friday. Walmart will close 269 stores, including 154 locations in the U.S. The company announced 102 of those will be its Wal-Mart Express stores, which were opened as a test in 2011, so this could be a move by the retailer to shift more of its focus to online sales.

This marks the end of a second rough week for Wall Street, following previous declines spurred by the falling price of oil and fears of slowing growth in China punctuated by volatility in the Shanghai stock market.