Reuters / Brendan McDermid

US stocks fell on Monday as oil prices crashed into negative territory for the first time ever, notching record lows.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell as much as 321%, to -$40.32 a barrel, while Brent crude slid 9.5%, to $25.41 at intrasession lows.

A group of big technology companies — including some of the so-called FAANG stocks — are unveiling first-quarter earnings this week. It will be the first period to show the coronavirus pandemic's effects on business.

Read more on Business Insider.

US stocks fell on Monday as oil prices crashed into negative territory for the first time ever, notching record lows.

The losses in oil came amid plummeting demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is offsetting historic production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil contracts expiring in May fell as much as 321%, to a record low of -$40.32 a barrel. The percentage move also marked the biggest single-day drop.

Here's where major US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Monday:

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"As major oil futures contracts expire, traders have been exiting those positions, driving the already low cost of oil to plunge even further," Rick Swope, the senior director of investor education at E-Trade, told Business Insider. " If there is one thing that's certain about oil: It's very unpredictable, especially because prices are really dictated in the futures markets."

Investors also weighed how the virus would affect a slew of technology earnings coming up this week. Several big technology companies — including IBM, Netflix, Snap, and Intel — are getting ready to report first-quarter earnings that will show the early impact of the pandemic.

US stocks pared some losses around midday on hopes that a second round of relief for small businesses would soon be approved, after the $349 billion rescue program ran out of money on Thursday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that the White House and Congress were nearing a deal on $450 billion in additional aid.

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The Nasdaq was briefly led into positive territory midday by Netflix and Amazon, which gained 3.4% and 0.8%, but the index closed the day back in the red. Still, technology stocks have largely outpaced the broader market amid the coronavirus-induced rout. Both companies will report first-quarter earnings in the coming weeks.

Monday's slump reversed gains from Friday, when all three major indexes gained and the S&P 500 ended the week 27% above its low on March 23. Stocks rose on hopes that the US economy would soon start to reopen after sweeping lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

But that stood in stark contrast to several negative economic indicators released last week that showed the severe damage to the US economy.

"Without a vaccine and proper treatment, life will not return to normal and spending behaviour will continue to adjust to this new reality," Hussein Sayed, the chief market strategist at FXTM, told Business Insider. "Equity performance cannot diverge for a prolonged period of time from fundamentals, so if we do not see a true economic recovery in the coming months, expect another leg lower in stock markets."

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