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Stocks close lower Monday, weighed down by collapsing oil prices

An electronic board showed the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange Monday.Vincent Yu/Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices plunged below zero on Monday, the latest never-before-seen number to come out of the economic coma caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil for May delivery fell to negative $37.60 per barrel as traders sought to avoid owning crude oil with nowhere to store it. Prices for other oil contracts also plummeted as storage facilities for crude approach their limits. The S&P 500 fell 1.8%, giving up some of the big gains from its first back-to-back weekly gain since February.