Surging Oil Prices, Dollar Drag Copper, Steel Stocks Lower

Oil prices and a resurgent U.S. dollar are impacting a whole host of sectors, commodities chief among them. This has copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and steel stock Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF) extending their recent losses today.

FCX is down 5.3% to trade at $56.19 this morning, on track for its third-straight loss of roughly 5% or more. The shares have taken a 19.6% haircut off their Feb. 25 all-time high of $69.75, though support is stepping up at their 80-day moving average.

CLF is 6% lower to trade at $9.24 at last glance, bringing its year-to-date deficit up to more than 31%. The shares are poised to close below $10 for the first time since August.

Options traders have been pursuing CLF puts lately. The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.01 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits higher than all other annual readings.