After several days of record-highs, energy stocks were taking a breather Thursday, moving edging lower on slightly bearish natural-gas supply data but trapped in a tight trading range.
By mid-morning, the Amex Oil Index (XOI :1,335.50, -22.60, -1.7% ) was off 0.2%, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX:502.83, -10.40, -2.0% ) was down 0.6%. The pause follows nearly two weeks of solid gains, led by a 7.3% advance for the oil services group.
The Energy Department reported that the volume of U.S. natural gas in storage rose 104 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 18. Analysts had predicted a rise of about 96 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 1.946 trillion cubic feet, down 205 billion cubic feet from a year ago but 334 billion cubic feet more than the five-year average.
Natural gas futures fell as low as $7.68 per million British thermal units on the report but quickly recovered some of the loss, last trading at $7.70, down 0.7%.
Blogalaxia Tags: stocks,energy
By mid-morning, the Amex Oil Index (XOI :1,335.50, -22.60, -1.7% ) was off 0.2%, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX:502.83, -10.40, -2.0% ) was down 0.6%. The pause follows nearly two weeks of solid gains, led by a 7.3% advance for the oil services group.
The Energy Department reported that the volume of U.S. natural gas in storage rose 104 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 18. Analysts had predicted a rise of about 96 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 1.946 trillion cubic feet, down 205 billion cubic feet from a year ago but 334 billion cubic feet more than the five-year average.
Natural gas futures fell as low as $7.68 per million British thermal units on the report but quickly recovered some of the loss, last trading at $7.70, down 0.7%.
Blogalaxia Tags: stocks,energy
