Oil and gas stocks made fresh headway Wednesday, bouncing back from the previous session's breather as traders pored over the latest weekly reports on U.S. petroleum inventories.
Extending earlier gains, the Amex Oil Index (XOI :1,369.06, +15.09, +1.1% ) was up 1.3% to hit an all-time high, the Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG :518.44, +2.54, +0.5% ) was up 0.6%, and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX :253.23, +3.94, +1.6% ) was up 2%.
Hess Corp. hess corp com (HES :60.99, +1.68, +2.8% ) was the leading percentage gainer in the Amex Oil Index, up 2%, while Chevron Corp. (CVX :82.33, +0.15, +0.2% ) was lagging the pack on a gain of just 0.2%. The sector also got a nudge from slightly higher crude-oil prices. The July contract, which moved into the front month position at the close Tuesday, was ahead 41 cents at $65.92 a barrel. See Futures Movers.
The Energy Department said crude supplies rose a fifth-straight week, up 2 million barrels at 344.2 million barrels, while both distillate stockpiles and gasoline supplies also were higher in the week ended May 18.
On the brokerage front, Bernstein upgraded ConocoPhillips (COP :77.57, +1.72, +2.3% ) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA : 75.42, +0.90, +1.2% ) to outperform from market perform while sending Chevron in the opposite direction, downgrading the No. 2 U.S. oil company to market perform from outperform.
In comments Tuesday to reporters in Dubai, Halliburton Co. Chief Executive Dave Lesar said the company (HAL : 36.95, +0.65, +1.8% ) would "welcome a Middle East investor taking a major equity stake," The Wall Street Journal reported.
Lesar's comments follow General Electric Co's (GE :37.72, +0.38, +1.0% ) sale this week of its plastics division to Saudi Arabia's Sabic for $11.6 billion and Halliburton's own decision earlier this year to move its headquarters to Dubai from Houston. Halliburton's shares traded 2.2% higher at midmorning.
