Roundup: U.S. stocks retreat further on falling oil

U.S. stocks tumbled for a second straight session on Monday, as oil prices resumed their downward trajectory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 177.92 points, or 1.10 percent, to 16,027.05. The S&P 500 slid 26.61 points, or 1.42 percent, to 1,853.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 79.39 points, or 1.82 percent, to 4,283.75.

Oil prices plunged on Monday, with the U.S. crude settled bellow 30 U.S. dollars a barrel again, as oversupply concerns dominated the market after a Saudi-Venezuela meeting during weekend failed to reach an agreement on actions to boost oil prices.

Oil prices have been traded near multi-year lows recently. Many analysts do not expect oil prices will recovery soon amid concerns about a slowdown in global growth.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery moved down 1.2 U.S. dollars to settle at 29.69 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery decreased 1.18 dollars to close at 32.88 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

In the absence of major economic data, investors were still sifting through Friday's mixed jobs report.

The U.S. Labor Depart reported Friday that total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in January, well below market consensus of 188,000.

The unemployment rate, however, edged down to 4.9 percent in January, dipping below 5 percent for the first time since 2008.

In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 12 cents to 25.39 U.S. dollars, beating market estimates.

Overseas, European equities also suffered big losses Monday on worries about global economy. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange dived 3.30 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index shed 2.71 percent.

In Asia, Japanese stocks erased earlier losses to close higher Monday, with the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.10 percent. Chinese markets are closed this week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 11.21 percent to end at 26.00 Monday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar fell to 15-month low against the Japanese yen as the declining oil prices spurred market demand for safe-haven currencies.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1198 dollars from 1.1142 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 115.34 Japanese yen, lower than 116.93 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose sharply on Monday as weaker U.S. equities gave support to the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for April delivery soared 40.2 dollars, or 3.47 percent, to settle at 1,197.90 dollars per ounce. Enditem