Energy stocks were narrowly higher this afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index climbing 0.3% while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF also was up 0.8%.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 77 cents to $41.04 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was increasing 74 cents to $44.26 per barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were 31 cents higher at $2.11 per 1 million BTU.
Among energy-related ETFs, the United States Oil Fund was ahead 1.6% while the United States Natural Gas Fund was racing to an 18.6% gain. The Philadelphia Oil-Service Sector index was 2.6% higher.
In company news, Astec Industries (ASTE) rose 2.7% after the heavy equipment and oilfield-services company Monday announced its acquisition of two full-line concrete batch plant manufacturers. Financial terms were not disclosed but Astec said Concrete Equipment Co and BMH Systems produced a combined $50 million in sales during 2019. It funded the purchases with cash on hand and also said the deals will immediately add to its per-share earnings.
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) was 1.8% higher after Sunday announcing the $21 billion sale of its Speedway retail business to the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. The company Monday also reported a non-GAAP Q2 net loss of $1.33 per share, reversing a $1.73 per share adjusted profit during the same quarter last year but still beating the Capital IQ consensus expecting a $1.76 per share loss, excluding one-time items.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners (CLMT) was little changed this afternoon, overcoming a 9.1% decline earlier Monday, after the hydrocarbons company said bondholders tendered $308.6 million of its 7.625% senior notes due 2022 and $533.6 million of its 11% senior notes due 2025, representing about 88.2% and 97% of those notes, respectively. The company will issue a pro-rated $200 million of new 9.25% senior secured first-lien notes due 2024 for each series of the senior notes. Investors also received $2.50 in cash for each $1,000 of the 2025 senior notes tendered by the July 31 deadline.
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