Oil Tumbles Below $70 as Stocks Drop; Bonds, Dollar Rally

Oil plunged below $70 a barrel for the first time since 2010, leading a selloff incommodities and energy shares. Treasuries advanced and the dollar reached a five-year high, while retailers rose amid Black Friday sales.

West Texas Intermediate tumbled 10 percent to $66.15 for the biggest drop in more than five years. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed to a five-year high as of 3:24 p.m. in New York, while gold sank 1.8 percent. Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped 8 basis points to the lowest in more than five weeks, and Japan’s two-year rates turned negative for the first time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.3 percent and the Russell 2000 Index fell 1.5 percent, as U.S. markets reopened after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its production ceiling unchanged, underscoring the price war in the crude market and challenge to U.S. shale drillers. The rout in oil is damping inflation, with price growth slowing in Japan and Germany and already negative in Spain. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. jumped as shoppers go to stores and online for the Black Friday weekend.

By Callie Bost and Eric Lam