Energy firms suffer as oil prices, stocks tick lower

NEW YORK - Stocks slipped Tuesday after several U.S. companies delivered disappointing results and forecasts. Energy companies fell more than the rest of the market as the price of crude oil hit a two-month low.

Twitter skidded $3.39, or 10.8 percent, to $27.95 aftermarket after Wall Street was disappointed with the messaging service's fourth-quarter outlook.

Ford reported improved sales of its new F-150 pickup, but its net income fell short of Wall Street estimates. Ford fell 79 cents, or 5 percent, to $14.89.

The market made only small moves as the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee started a two-day meeting to discuss interest rates. That marked a pause after a rally this month that has wiped out much of a steep loss from August.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 41.62 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,581.43. The Nasdaq composite fell 4.56 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,030.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.29 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,065.89.

Investors are still concerned about the slow pace of the U.S. economic recovery and are wondering how the economy and the market will react when interest rates eventually start to rise. While ultra-low rates tend to be favorable for stocks and bonds, many investors would like to see the uncertainty resolved.

"We don't think there's going to be enough evidence between now and the end of the year to support a move by the Fed," said Patrick Maldari, a senior fixed-income investment specialist at Aberdeen Asset Management. "They just have not had the ammunition. The economic data continues to be weak."

The price of U.S. oil fell almost 2 percent Tuesday to its lowest level since the market turmoil of late August. Oil prices had recovered some of their losses from the summer as companies cut back on production.

Energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch said he thinks crude will slip back to its August lows of about $38 a barrel and stay there through 2015.

Energy stocks declined along with oil. Chesapeake Energy fell 41 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $6.72, while Marathon Oil was down 48 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $17.11 and Anadarko Petroleum lost $3.71, or 5.4 percent, to $65.29.

In other fuel trading, Brent crude, used to price international oils used in many U.S. refineries, fell 73 cents to $46.81 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline closed down a fraction, to $1.287 a gallon in New York, heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.424 a gallon, and natural gas edged up 3 cents to $2.092 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In metals trading, gold fell 40 cents to $1,165.80 an ounce, silver dipped 4 cents to $15.86 an ounce, and copper gained 0.5 cents to $2.36 per pound.