Morning Commentary: Markets sell off as crude oil drags lower; Stone Energy down to 60

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Jan. 20 – Convertibles were trading down early Wednesday amid another heavy sell-off in crude oil and equity markets.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery dropped 5% to a handle of $26.00 per barrel after dropping 4% on Tuesday.

WPX Energy Inc. shares were down another 30% in early trading. The convertibles of Stone Energy Corp., which don’t trade often, were down to 60 in small size and offered at 61 to 62 in larger size with no bids on Wednesday against shares that were down 20%.

The Stone Energy 1.75% convertibles due March 2017 traded on Jan. 6 at 72 bid, 72.5 offered and on Dec. 10 at 84.75 to 85, a New York-based trader said.

Meanwhile Fluidigm Corp.’s 2.75% convertibles due 2034 were seen at 42 bid, 52 offered in the Street after trading on Tuesday at 56 versus an underlying share price of $7.44.

Shares of the San Francisco-based genomics and DNA research company were down $2.37, or 32%, at $5.07 on Wednesday after Cowen downgraded the shares.

The S&P 500 stock index was down 48 points, or 2.5%, to 1,833.97, its lowest level since October 2014.

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