Stocks swoon on record oil prices, sinking dollar

Stocks are continuing to crumble midday after crude oil and the greenback hit records. Lackluster outlooks from juggernauts Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) and DuPont (NYSE:DD) also weighed down the market.

At 1:28 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) toppled 17.6 points, or 2.45%, to 700.04, while the Dow sunk 137.11 points, or 1.07%, to a level of 12,687.91.

Crude oil climbed to an intraday record of $120 a barrel, as the dollar hit a new low against the euro. The greenback climbed to $1.60 per euro for the first time after the European Central Bank signaled it will not slash interest rates due to inflation concerns Oil also spiked on a Nigerian supply disruption.

“Over the last 24 hours, four ECB speakers state that they’re concerned about inflation — one going as far as to say that they’re considering raising rates every month going forward,” Andy Busch, BMO Capital Markets global ethics strategist said. “This is part of why the U.S. dollar has come under so much pressure from the euro.”

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said this morning that existing-home sales slid 2% in the month of March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million from a level of 5.03 million in February. The sales number was . . .

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