U.S. stocks fell on Monday on global growth worries after weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia’s crude facilities hit 5% of the world’s supply, but a sharp jump in crude prices lifted beaten-down energy stocks and kept losses in check.

The attack on the world’s biggest oil exporter sent oil prices up more than 20% before easing as various nations said they would tap emergency reserves to ensure stable supplies.

The S&P 500 energy, one of the worst performing sectors so far this year, soared 2.36%. Shares of Apache Corp, Marathon Oil Corp and Hess Corp jumped between 8.8% and 10.1% and were the leading gainers on the benchmark index.

At 11:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 133.39 points, or 0.49%, at 27,086.13, the S&P 500 was down 10.50 points, or 0.35%, at 2,996.89. The Nasdaq Composite was down 24.42 points, or 0.30%, at 8,152.29.

Source : Reuters