Rising natural-gas prices and merger and acquisition talk lifted the exploration and production sector, while shares of major oil companies largely ignored higher commodity prices.
The Amex Oil Index (XOI :1,160.84, -1.84, -0.2% ) was off 0.3% to 1,159.76 points as crude for March delivery rose 51 cents to $58.50 a barrel. The Philadelphia Oil Services Index ($OSX : 195.93, -0.53, -0.3% ) slipped 0.2% to 196.16 points.
The Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG :456.31, +0.02, +0.0% ) added 0.3% to 457.51 points. Leading the index forward, Pogo Producing Co. (PPP :50.97, +0.39, +0.8% ) was up 2.8% to $52.01, pulling back from gains of over 4% at the start of the trading session.
The Houston-based explorer late Thursday said it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $16.5 million, or 29 cents a share, from a profit of $114.7 million, or $1.96 a share, a year ago.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted fourth-quarter earnings of 34 cents a share and revenue of $350.8 million.
Despite the big miss, the company's shares climbed in the subsequent session following the company's confirmation that it was "exploring" all strategic alternatives, including a possible sale or merger.
Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI :65.22, +0.03, +0.0% ) was struck with several downgrades a day after disappointing Wall Street with its fourth-quarter figures and suffering its biggest one-day stock loss since the broad market downturn in 2001. Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, Calyon and Pickering Energy Partners downgraded the its shares after the company missed earnings expectations by 17 cents.
"With confidence shaken, BHI goes into penalty box until they show that there are not systemic problems at the company," said independent analyst Dan Pickering at Pickering Energy Partners.
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