Roundup: U.S. stocks extend losses as oil continues fall

U.S. stocks retreated further on sinking crude prices Monday, as a new corporate earnings season is unfolding.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 96.53 points, or 0.54 percent, to 17,640.84. The S&P 500 went down 16.55 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,028.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 39.36 points, or 0.84 percent, to 4,664.71.

Oil prices plummeted as investment banks including Goldman Sachs Group cut their price forecasts.

Goldman Sachs analysts on Monday substantially slashed their oil price forecasts, with the three-month price forecast for Brent cut to 42 U.S. dollars a barrel from 80 dollars and the 2015 forecast for Brent down to 50.40 dollars a barrel from 83.75 dollars.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery lost 2.29 dollars to settle at 46.07 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery decreased 2.68 dollars to close at 47.43 dollars a barrel.

In response, the energy sector suffered a big loss of 2.80 percent, the biggest laggard among the S&P 500's 10 sectors.

Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. released strong fourth-quarter results after Monday's closing bell to unofficially kick off the earnings season. Alcoa said it swung to profit in the quarter as transformation strengthened profitability. The company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share, as revenue jumped 14 percent from last year to 6.4 billion dollars, topping market estimates. Shares of Alcoa rose in after-hours trading.

Some major U.S. banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., will also release their quarterly results this week.

According to Thomson Reuters, the fourth-quarter earnings of S& P 500 companies are expected to grow 4.0 percent year on year.

The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of fear in the market, rose 11.68 percent to 19.60.

Overseas, European shares closed higher amid growing speculation on further stimulus from the European Central Bank. Asian stocks ended mixed with Chinese Shanghai Composite Index slipping 1.71 percent on the pressure of 22 new share offerings this week.

On Friday, the three U.S. benchmarks pulled back following two sessions of sharp gains to cap a volatile trading week lower, as investors were assessing the December nonfarm payroll report. The report showed U.S. unemployment rate for December fell to the lowest level since June 2008, while average hourly wage dropped lightly.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies on Monday but slipped against the Japanese yen as slump in oil prices and equity markets spurred market demand for safe- haven assets.

In late New York trading, the euro moved down to 1.1840 dollars from 1.1843 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought 118.32 Japanese yen, lower than 118.58 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped more than 1 percent as oil prices continued their downward march. The most active gold contract for February delivery added 16.7 dollars, or 1.37 percent, to settle at 1,232.8 dollars per ounce. Endite