S&P 500 top movers: Energy company ONEOK (OKE) shares fall more than 17%

• S&P 500 plunges toward 3,000 points on Thursday.
• Sharp drop in oil prices weighs on Energy Index.
• ONEOK (OKE) is the worst performer of the day.

Major equity indexes in the US are suffering heavy losses on Thursday as risk-aversion takes control of financial markets. The S&P 500 (SPX), which closed the last two days in the negative territory, was last down 4.4% on the day at 3,050 points.

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is losing nearly 7% on the day pressured by a 6.9% drop in West Texas Intermediate (WTI).

S&P 500 top movers

Earlier in the day, midstream energy company ONEOK Inc (OKE) announced that it will be holding a $1 billion (26 million shares) stock offering for general purposes including debt repayment and capex funding. Following this development, OKE fell sharply and was last seen losing 17.1% on the day at $34.85 as the biggest decliner.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) and Alliance Data Systems Corp (ADS) are both down around 14%.

On the other hand, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG) is up 2% on the day at $20.63 as the top-performer. KeyBanc Capital Markets on Thursday noted Cabot has a strong balance sheet.