US stocks fall with oil in volatile session

U.S. stocks closed down Monday after a volatile trading session, with oil prices keeping to sink.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 99.99 points, or 0.58 percent, to 17,180.84. The S&P 500 lost 12.70 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,989.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 48.44 points, or 1.04 percent, to 4,605.16.
The market initially moved up, after the Dow and the S&P 500 witnessed the worst week for the year of 2014.
However, the three benchmark indices soon dipped into red territory, as falling crude prices continued to haunt the market, with U.S. crude for January delivery settling at the lowest since May 2009 Monday.
U.S. stocks witnessed wild swings Monday, with the Dow rallying 122 points from the previous close shortly after the opening bell, and then dipping 165 points at session low around midday.
Oils were under fresh selling pressure after United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei restated Sunday that OPEC will refrain from cutting output even if prices fall as low as 40 U.S. dollars per barrel.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 1.9 dollars to settle at 55.91 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 79 cents to close at 61.06 dollars a barrel.
Economic data came out mixed, providing no clear direction for the market. Manufacturing activity in the New York Region shrank for the first time in nearly two years, with the Empire State Manufacturing Index for December dropping 14 points to minus 3.6, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a survey Monday.
Following a four-point uptick last month, U.S. builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell one point in December to a level of 57 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
U.S. industrial production jumped 1.3 percent in November, beating market expectations, the Federal Reserve said.
Investors are also awaiting the Fed's final policy meeting of this year to be held later this week, followed by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's press conference.
In other markets, the dollar climbed against most major currencies Monday amid mixed economic data.
In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.2435 dollars from 1.2451 dollars in the previous session. The greenback bought 117.71 Japanese yen, lower than 118.75 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell sharply amid expectations that the U.S. central bank plans to move closer to raising interest rates.
The most active gold contract for February delivery lost 14.8 dollars, or 1.21 percent, to settle at 1,207.7 dollars per ounce.