Wall Street fell Monday in an erratic session dominated by worries about inflation — which were somewhat soothed by a plunge in oil prices that took crude to its lowest level in three months.

Light, sweet crude closed down $3.69, or 2.9 percent, to settle at $121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Tropical Storm Edouard seemed unlikely to threaten oil and natural gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has now fallen nearly $26, or 17.6 percent, since it reached a trading high of $147.27 on July 11; Monday’s close was its lowest since it settled at $120.36 on May 5.

Broader stock indicators showed steeper declines. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 11.30, or 0.90 percent, to 1,249.01, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 25.40, or 1.10 percent, to 2,285.56.

(Yahoo.com)