Energy stocks extended their earlier declines this afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 1.3% while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF was down 1.1%. The Philadelphia Oil-Service Sector index was up 0.3% and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was sinking 0.7%.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $0.25 higher at $61.60 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was gaining $0.27 to $65.59 per barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rallied Thursday, climbing $0.06 to $2.75 per 1 million BTU.
In company news, Core Laboratories (CLB) was edging higher, erasing a nearly 5% decline earlier Thursday after the oilfield services company reported a 29% year-over-year drop in Q1 revenue to $108.4 million and missed the $111 million Street view.
Cimarex Energy (XEC) rose fractionally after an MKM Partners upgrade of the oil and natural gas producer to buy from neutral.
To the downside, Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) fell 1%, giving back a nearly 1% gain that followed the energy infrastructure company announcing the sale of nearly half of its 49% membership interest in MVP Terminalling to an unidentified buyer for $270 million, keeping a 25% stake in the marine terminal joint venture near Los Angeles.
Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT) was down 2.2% after saying it has deployed a PB3 PowerBuoy electricity generator off the coast of Chile bought in September 2019 by Enel Green Power as part of efforts in that country to develop more clean energy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
