Concerns over the 2007 hurricane season faded before forecasts of a robust winter heating season. Natural gas stocks lead energy gains
Reports of the presence of the first La Nina weather pattern in nearly seven years popped up on investors' radar screens. If a cold winter in the Northeast takes place as a result of the weather pattern, natural gas prices could rise.
La Nina winters are typically milder than normal but may also include harsher cold snaps.
AccuWeather.com said the Pacific Northwest, western Canada and parts of the Northern Rockies tend to be colder than average.
The Amex Natural Gas Index jumped nearly 1.7% to close at 528.6 points. Component El Paso Corp. (EP:17.40, +0.43, +2.5%) topped percentage gainers, up 2.5% to $17.40 a share, Apache Corp. (APA:91.96, +1.90, +2.1%) rose 2.1% to $91.96, and Nisource (NI:19.54, +0.40, +2.1%) rose 2.1% to $19.54. Inc.
The Amex Oil Index rose 1% to 1,454 points after moving lower earlier in the session.
Sector leader Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY: 66.15, +2.07, +3.2%) rose 3.2% to finish the session at $66.15, hitting a record high $66.25 during the session. Exxon Mobil (XOM:93.95, +1.39, +1.5%) , part of the Dow Jones Industrials Average, advanced 1.5% to $93.95 - an all-time closing high for the world's biggest oil company. ConocoPhillips (COP:87.39, -0.38, -0.4%) fell 0.4% to $87.39 after Deutsche Bank on Monday downgraded shares of the company to a sell.
Analyst Paul Sankey said he's eying a "particularly worrisome" third quarter for the company with "huge leverage" to refining, which is shaping up to be "dreadful" for the group.
"With little growth, ConocoPhillips is subject to market conditions to a high degree, and a view that the one major prop for the stock, namely high oil prices, is about to give way, leaves the stock highly vulnerable," Sankey said in a note to clients.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX:299.72, +4.64, +1.6%) rose 1.6% to end the day at 299.7. Crude fell $1.42 to $80.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending the end-of-quarter sell-off seen on Friday.
Via: MarketWatch|by Steve Gelsi
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